Democrat John Fetterman celebrates his US Senate success, which was confirmed six hours after voting closed
(Picture: AFP via Getty Images)US Democrat John Fetterman won his race for Pennsylvania’s Senate seat early on Wednesday, November 9, 2022.
Fetterman beat Republican celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz to capture the seat, six hours after voting closed.
Despite widespread expectations for a Republican victory and the fact that President Joe Biden has a poor approval rating, Democrats have surprisingly performed well in the crucial midterm elections.
Who is John Fetterman?
Fetterman is a 53-year-old politician, who has served as the 34th lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania as a member of the Democratic Party since 2019.
He was born in Pennsylvania and grew up in an affluent suburb of York, where his father was a partner at an insurance firm.
Both his parents were conservative Republicans.
Fetterman studied finance at Albright College and earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Connecticut. After graduating, he began his professional career in the insurance industry.
He then joined AmeriCorps and earned a Master of Public Policy degree at Harvard University.
Following his AmeriCorps service, Fetterman returned to Braddock in 2004 and was elected mayor the following year. In this capacity, Fetterman worked to bring art and youth initiatives to the defunct steel town.
He previously ran for Pennsylvania’s Senate seat back in 2016, finishing third in the Democratic primary.
Two years later, he defeated a field of candidates in the Democratic primary as lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania.
During his tenure, Fetterman attracted notoriety for working to make marijuana legal in the entire state and fighting back against then-President Donald Trump's erroneous allegations of election fraud in Pennsylvania.
What does Fetterman advocate?
Generally described as a progressive, Fetterman advocates health care as a right, criminal justice reform, the raising of the federal minimum wage to $15 (£13) per hour, and the legalisation of cannabis.
Oz, who was also running for Senate previously, claimed Fetterman’s drugs and crime policies were illogical in an essay for NBC News.
“This desire to decriminalise drugs is just one facet of Fetterman’s extensive soft-on-crime agenda,” he said. “Since first taking office as lieutenant governor in 2019, Fetterman has at times advocated on behalf of violent criminals, even at the expense of law-abiding citizens.”
