Fetterman Wins Democratic US Senate Primary From Hospital

Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman easily won the Democratic primary for the US Senate on Tuesday from a hospital bed.

Less than half of the votes were counted as Fetterman defeated two other candidates.

The candidate was unable to attend his election night events because he was recovering from a stroke. He said Tuesday that he had a pacemaker. He made a brief video appearance from his hospital room at the election night party.

President Joe Biden issued a statement lauding Fetterman's victory, saying Democrats are united around John, who is a strong nominee, will run a tough race, and can win in November.

Fetterman was expected to win the race. The Republican primary for the US Senate has become a three-way fight between Mehmet Oz, a celebrity physician backed by former President Donald Trump, David McCormick, a former Wall Street executive, and Kathy Barnette, a conservative firebrand.

Oz and his allies spent a record amount of money on ads in the Senate primary. Barnette upended the campaign with a late surge to make it a statistical tie in two polls.

With 40% of votes counted so far, Oz was leading by 28.3%. According to election data compiled by the Associated Press, Barnette trailed at 22.6%.

In Pennsylvania's governor's race, Doug Mastriano, a Trump supporter, won the Republican primary with 42.6% of the vote.

North Carolina, Idaho, Kentucky, and Oregon have primaries Tuesday. Madison Cawthorn, a 26 year old US Representative from North Carolina, is running for re-election. The youngest member of Congress lost the support of the GOP in his state, but gained Trump's support in a multi-candidate primary. With most of the vote in, Cawthorn was behind.

Ted Budd will face a former state Supreme Court justice in the general election for a US Senate seat in North Carolina.

Fetterman's campaign said on Tuesday that he was getting a pacemaker and later said the procedure was a success. He said he used an emergency ballot to cast his vote.

The attorney general of Pennsylvania ran without opposition in the primary. He tested positive for Covid-19.

Several thousand mail-in ballots in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, have to be manually marked and scanned after a printing issue made them unreadable. Mail-in ballots can't be opened until 7 a.m. the day of the election.

The Republican Senate race is a test of Trump's grip on the GOP and whether his base voters follow his endorsements as he seeks to elect loyal candidates and teases another White House bid in 2024. Oz was endorsed by Trump in the primary.

In Ohio, the former president's endorsement helped the Republican win the primary for an open US Senate seat. Trump's imprimatur hasn't given Oz the same boost, and he's struggled to separate from the rising Barnette.