(Pittsburgh) The Democrats won a potentially decisive seat for control of the Senate on Wednesday morning, with the victory of John Fetterman in Pennsylvania against a Trumpist candidate, according to American television Fox News and NBC.
Posted at 2:08 am
A bald colossus weakened by a stroke suffered in May, John Fetterman faced superstar surgeon Mehmet Oz in one of the most scrutinized duels of the mid-term elections.
“We bet on the people of Pennsylvania – and you didn’t let us down. And I won’t let you down,” the Democrat immediately reacted from Pittsburgh, thanking voters.
“The President (Joe Biden) sent a congratulatory text message” to Mr. Fetterman, the White House said.
Dressed in his inseparable hooded sweatshirt, surrounded by his family on the stage of a hall in Pittsburgh, John Fetterman rejoiced in his victory at the end of a “race for the future of all people in across Pennsylvania, for every small town, for every person who has felt left out, for every job lost.
“I am proud that we have contributed to the protection of women’s right to choose”, in reference to the right to abortion which has been at the center of the campaign of this pivotal state in the eastern United States.
Long in the lead in the polls, John Fetterman had seen his lead melt in recent weeks, until the race became too tight to designate a favorite.
His campaign was hampered by his stroke and questions about his abilities, especially after a television interview in which he used a teleprompter to read questions posed to him due to hearing problems.
John Fetterman was opposite Mehmet Oz, long at the head of a very popular medical program. The two men have clashed a lot over the months with little killer phrases and “memes”, these diverted images that delight social networks.
PHOTO MATT ROURKE, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Mehmet Oz
The seat, hitherto held by a Republican, was decisive for control of the upper house and therefore for the rest of Joe Biden’s term.
A native of Pennsylvania, John Fetterman was mayor from 2006 to 2019 of Braddock, a former industrial city that fell into disrepair with the decline of steel production, whose postal code he has tattooed on his arm.
The shaved-headed progressive, who has been called the “coolest” mayor in the country, has tried to revive the town with youth relief programs and green spaces.
His opponents accuse him of giving himself the air of a man of the people, he who admits having grown up in a rather wealthy family and who has a diploma from the prestigious Harvard University.
He claims to have tackled crime during his tenures in Braddock, flattering himself that over a period of five and a half years not a gunshot death has been recorded there.
John Fetterman says he wants to tackle the “greed” of big business and make them pay their “fair share”, supports universal health coverage and the legalization of cannabis and defends the “non-negotiable” right to abortion.