PITTSBURGH — As it nears two months since he suffered a stroke, Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, the Democratic nominee in one of the country's most important U.S. Senate races, is signaling that a return to the campaign trail may not be too far away.
In response to a series of Post-Gazette questions on Wednesday about the candidate's health status as the calendar continues into July, a campaign spokesman said Fetterman is "feeling really well" and will be "on the campaign trail soon."
Fetterman has been recovering from a stroke that he suffered a few days before the May primary, a contest that he won to become the Democrats' torch-bearer for a seat that could determine control of the Senate.
"He is about 90% back to full strength and getting better," spokesman Joe Calvello said.
The update on Fetterman's health status comes as Republican campaign groups — quiet, to this point, about Fetterman's absence from the trail — start to ramp up their messaging on the topic, aiming to draw a contrast with their candidate, cardiothoracic surgeon and TV celebrity Mehmet Oz, who has been campaigning across the state.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee put out a tongue-in-cheek missing poster this week, asking where Fetterman is, "in hopes he can be found so he can find some time to hear from Pennsylvanians about their struggles thanks to the Fetterman-Biden agenda," according to the group.
The poster reads that Fetterman was last "seen" May 13, 2022, which was the day he had a stroke between campaign events.
Doctors surgically attached a pacemaker with a defibrillator to Fetterman's heart, intended to treat his cardiomyopathy, a diagnosis he received after his stroke. Cardiomyopathy, a heart disease, makes it harder for the heart to pump blood to the rest of the body.
Since his stroke, Fetterman has been recovering at home, his campaign has said. In early June, party insiders started to share concerns to national media outlets — albeit anonymously — that his absence could impact Democrats' chances of flipping the Senate seat.
Asked if Fetterman has any concerns that his physical absence from the campaign trail is impacting his chances to win in November, Calvello said Fetterman is "ready to flip this seat blue, and he is putting in the work to do so."
"Every day John is meeting with and working with his campaign staff to make sure things are moving along and that the campaign is firing on all cylinders," Calvello said. "He is also speaking with senators in Washington regularly about the race."
Gisele Fetterman, John's wife, told CNN in June that she thought her husband could return to the campaign trail by July. Fetterman "can't wait to get back on the trail," President Joe Biden said in mid-June, sharing his thoughts after talking to the candidate a day earlier on a video call.
Day to day, Fetterman is "living a pretty normal life right now," his campaign spokesman said. He's been going out on dates with his wife, to dinner with his family, and has taken day trips to Erie and Johnstown, Calvello added.
"Gisele has him running errands like picking up groceries at Aldi and Giant Eagle, driving his kids to friends' houses and summer camp, and taking his truck to the auto shop to get worked on," Calvello said.
Although physically absent from the diner visits and main street tours of a traditional statewide campaign, Fetterman's campaign has been fighting on the airwaves and on the internet, and it just recently launched its general election volunteer program.
His team has been running a spot on Fox News in the Pittsburgh, Johnstown and Scranton media markets that describes him as a political trailblazer who will help the state's forgotten towns by advocating for higher wages and good jobs.
Insiders expect the race to heat up soon. A Post-Gazette survey of various political advertisers last week found that Democratic and GOP powerhouses have already booked at least $67 million in advertising spots for the November election, with most of the reservations starting in the fall.
The NRSC is pushing a pair of ads that aim to tie Fetterman to Biden — who's garnering historically low approval ratings — and say that left-wing radicals are siding with his candidacy.
