A dressed-down Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman snubbed reporters outside a polling booth early Tuesday as the Democratic Senate candidate cast his vote in the neck-and-neck race.
Fetterman — dressed in a pair of shorts, his trademark black hoodie and sneakers for the high-stakes occasion — drove his pickup truck to a polling station in his hometown of Braddock, just outside Pittsburgh, to cast his ballot alongside his wife, Gisele.
The 53-year-old lieutenant governor, who has spent much of the campaign defending his health after suffering a stroke in May, ignored questions from reporters — but took to Twitter soon after to try to rally last-minute support in the down-to-the-wire race.
It was a stark contrast to the scene his GOP rival, Dr. Mehmet Oz, created some 300 miles away in his upscale Philadelphia suburb.
The suit-wearing Republican candidate, 62, clutched his glammed-up wife Lisa’s hand as they emerged from the polling station.
“Pennsylvania is sending a very clear message to Washington,” Oz told reporters before he was whisked away in an SUV. “We want less radicalism and more balance, so I encourage everyone to vote. It’s your duty.”
Multiple polls in the days leading up to the election have shown Oz, the former celebrity TV doctor, pulling ahead of his Democratic rival in the hotly contested Senate race.
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Oz was leading Fetterman by one percentage point (47.6% to 46.6%) in a Susquehanna Polling and Research survey and had a two-point lead (48% to 46%) in an Emerson College poll taken after their Oct. 25 debate showdown.
Fetterman was widely panned over his disastrous debate performance, which saw him jumble his words and struggle to complete sentences.
His campaign later alleged the closed captioning system deployed to assist the stroke survivor was slow and “riddled with errors” — a claim that debate host Nexstar Media Group was quick to quash.
Oz spent much of the campaign challenging Fetterman over whether he had been honest about the effects of the stroke and called on him to release his medical records to prove he was fit for office.
Fetterman repeatedly refused to release the records — and accused Oz of trying to capitalize on his disability.
He insisted in an interview with ABC’s “The View” last week that he continues to “get better and better every day.”
“And, you know, we’re running a successful campaign here at the highest levels,” he added. “So I really do fundamentally believe that both our doctors — we believe we are fit to serve.”
Underscoring the importance of the seat being vacated by second-term Republican Sen. Pat Toomey, President Biden campaigned in Pennsylvania for Fetterman three times in the final three weeks of the election.
Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump came in to hold a Saturday rally for Oz, whom he endorsed in the Keystone State’s bruising GOP primary.
The race is the most expensive ever for a Senate seat in Pennsylvania, with the price tag surpassing $300 million. Oz spent more than $25 million of his own fortune on the race, while money from national groups also poured in.
With Post wires
