Health questions, verbal slips loom over John Fetterman in tightening Pa. Senate race

Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman survived a stroke in May, but his health remains a central issue in his bid to edge out Republican foe Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania, with verbal stumbles raising questions about his fitness.

Mr. Fetterman, the state’s lieutenant governor, said he has a fixable “auditory processing” issue, but recent polling shows the race tightening alongside misfires on the stump.

“The Eagles are so Much Better — than the Eagles!” Mr. Fetterman said at an event last month.

In another instance, Mr. Fetterman said he is “doing fantastic” and “not kicking balls in the authority or anything,” swapping words in a phrase that Mr. Oz used to criticize his Democrat rival.

Mr. Oz, a celebrity doctor, is highlighting the issue as a matter of transparency. His team retweeted a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editorial that said Mr. Fetterman’s campaign could put the questions to rest by releasing more health records.

“Mr. Fetterman can diminish the influence of this distracting side issue by releasing his medical records now and allowing reporters to question his physician,” the newspaper wrote over the weekend.

By declining to disclose more, the board wrote, “Mr. Fetterman is elevating their importance and generating suspicions that may be entirely unwarranted.”

The Oz campaign pointed to a recent radio interview in which Mr. Fetterman said he is not on the heart transplant list.

“If he’s willing to tell a journalist that he doesn’t need a heart transplant on the record, what is the big deal about making his medical records public to back that up?” said Oz spokeswoman Brittany Yanick. “What is John Fetterman hiding?”

The issue looms in the background of a tight race. Recent polls show Mr. Fetterman clinging to a polling lead of about 4 percentage points, a drop from about 8 points over the summer.

“His health remains a concern. He has not provided specific information about his health. He is out doing some campaigning to overcome the problem but it’s one of the reasons Oz has closed the gap,” said G. Terry Madonna, senior fellow for political affairs at Millersville University.

A recent survey from Emerson College Polling/The Hill showed the share of voters who say Mr. Fetterman’s stroke makes no difference in their vote has dropped since August from 68% to 59%. Plus, the share of voters who say it makes them less likely to back him has climbed from 14% to 19%.

Pennsylvania has liberal strongholds such as Philadelphia but also vast swaths of rural, conservative voters, making it a swing state that gave its electoral votes to former President Donald Trump in 2016 and President Biden in 2020.

Mr. Fetterman, 53, and Mr. Oz , 62, are vying to replace retiring Sen. Pat Toomey, a Republican, so the race is a key pickup opportunity for Democrats who want to expand their Senate majority in the evenly divided Senate, where Vice President Kamala Harris serves as a tiebreaker.

The Fetterman campaign is leaning into the health topic by characterizing Mr. Oz’s questions as inappropriate or at least poor form, especially for a candidate who rose to prominence as a doctor on television.

Speaking at a Pittsburgh rally, Mr. Fetterman said that yes, he sometimes mixes up words.

“The only lingering issue that I have after that stroke is sometimes auditory processing, sometimes. And, every now and then, I might miss a word or, sometimes, you know, I might mush two words together,” Mr. Fetterman said.

He said Mr. Oz is not without vocal blemishes, pointing to a grocery store video in which the Republican seemed to mash Wegmans Food Markets and Redner’s Markets into “Wegners.”

“Dr. Oz never stops reminding everybody that I had a stroke,” Mr. Fetterman said. “In fact, I’m sure there’s probably at least one person here that are filming it. Trying to have me miss some words on video. What an inspiring campaign for you.”

The Oz campaign has mixed in other attack lines, accusing Mr. Fetterman of being soft on crime or maintaining a light work schedule as lieutenant governor.

Mr. Fetterman, meanwhile, has characterized Mr. Oz as out-of-touch with everyday Pennsylvanians and, until recently, a long-time resident of New Jersey.

His campaign says it has been forthright with voters.

“As we’ve said over and over again, John is healthy and he also still has a lingering auditory processing issue that his doctors expect will go away. John has already released a letter from his cardiologist, put out a candid letter directly from himself about his stroke, and talked about his health openly with local and national media,” said Fetterman campaign spokesman Joe Calvello. “Unfortunately for Dr. Oz and the pathetic Republicans who are desperately rooting against his recovery, John is getting better every day and he is going to win this race to be Pennsylvania’s next senator.”