Democratic Senate nominee John Fetterman and Republican Mehmet Oz will square off in their sole debate in the race for Pennsylvania’s Senate seat in Harrisburg on Tuesday evening.
Republican Senator Pat Toomey’s soon-to-be-open seat is crucial for Democrats and Republicans. If Republicans hold the seat, they only need to flip one Democratic-held seat to win back the majority; and a loss would make it harder for them to flip the Senate, given the poor quality of other Republican candidates.
For Democrats, an extra Senate seat would mean they no longer have to worry about constantly pleasing Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia to get anything passed in a 50-50 Senate, where Vice President Kamala Harris breaks ties. Mr Fetterman has said on the campaign trail that he would be “the 51st vote.”
Here are the five things to watch in Pennyslvania’s sole debate in Harrisburg.
Crime
A CBS News/YouGov poll released on Tuesday showed that that 67 per cent of likely voters consider crime to be an important issue, behind only the economy and inflation. Republicans have gone all in on portraying Mr Fetterman as weak on crime, specifically focusing on homicides in cities like Philadelphia, which have seen high murder rates.
At a rally in Wilkes-Barre, former president Donald Trump claimed without evidence that Mr Fetterman “supports taxpayer funded drug dens and the complete decriminalisation of illegal drugs, including heroin, cocaine, crystal meth and ultra lethal fentanyl”.
The former president added, once again without merit, “And by the way, he takes them himself.” In addition, Dr Oz’s campaign has criticised Mr Fetterman for helping commute the sentences of two men who were convicted of second-degree murder on spurious charges and then hiring them on his campaign. Mr Fetterman, for his part, has highlighted his tenure as mayor of Braddock when he worked to stop homicides in the city.
Fetterman’s health
Mr Fetterman suffered a stroke right before the May primary. As a result, Mr Fetterman uses closed captioning since he still has difficulty with auditory processing. Republicans and some in the press criticised his need to use closed captioning in an interview with NBC News earlier this month as a sign he could not do the job of senator. But Rebecca Katz, a senior adviser to Mr Fetterman, told WHYY that he can use closed captioning on the Senate floor.
The CBS/YouGov poll showed that 55 per cent of registered voters think Mr Fetterman is healthy enough to serve, but that number is down from 59 per cent in September. At the same time, the poll also showed that 54 per cent of registered voters said they do not think it is important to talk about Mr Fetterman’s health.
New Jersey
Throughout the campaign, Mr Fetterman’s team has mercilessly pummeled Dr Oz for not actually being from Pennsylvania but instead neighbouring New Jersey. Most recently, when the Philadelphia Phillies beat the San Diego Padres to make it to the World Series, Mr Fetterman’s campaign dredged up an old tweet of Dr Oz cheering for the New York Yankees, who later lost to the Houston Astros.
Similarly, the campaign commissioned a Cameo video from Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi from the reality show The Jersey Shore to mock Dr Oz’s leaving New Jersey for Pennsylvania. Still, the CBS News/YouGov poll showed that 57 per cent of registered voters said it was not important to talk about Dr Oz’s residency.
Abortion
Like most Democrats, Mr Fetterman has sought to paint Dr Oz as an extremist when it comes to abortion after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision overturned Roe v Wade. Democrats hope that if they hold the House of Representatives, which is highly unlikely, and add two additional Senate seats, that they could pass legislation to codify the protections in Roe after Mr Manchin opposed the Women’s Health Protection Act earlier this year.
Dr Oz has said he supports exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother. Like in other debates, moderators will likely ask Mr Fetterman if he would support any limits on abortion, something he has previously said he does not, which Republicans have highlighted.
Inflation
Rising prices remain top of the mind for most voters, with 95 per cent of registered voters in the CBS News/YouGov survey saying it was important to discuss economic and inflation policies. Most polls have shown that Republicans have an advantage on the economy, while Mr Fetterman will likely highlight Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act. Moreover, the two will likely discuss what to do about rising gas prices, a continuing concern for many voters.
