[1] Democratic lieutenant governor John Fetterman won his first term in office, defeating Republican surgeon Mehmet Oz.

[5] Although Fetterman led most pre-election polls, concerns towards his health and a scrutinized debate performance helped Oz take a narrow lead before the election.

[6][7][8] Despite Oz's lead in final polls, Fetterman won by a 5% margin, helping provide Senate Democrats a net gain of one seat and their first outright majority since 2015.

[a] In October 2020, incumbent Republican Senator Pat Toomey decided not to run for re-election, stating that he wished to return to the private sector.

[9] By October 2021, businessman Jeff Bartos, who had posted strong fund-raising totals, and veteran Sean Parnell, who had the endorsement of former president Donald Trump, emerged as the race's front-runners.

[12] Even before these allegations were made, doubts had arisen among Republicans regarding Parnell's fundraising ability, and it became widely assumed that he would suspend his campaign if he did not win custody of his children.

[16] Super PACs allied to McCormick hit back with a spate of well-funded television advertisements, accusing Oz of being a "Hollywood liberal.

"[17] Republican straw polls in January 2022 indicated strong support for Bartos and political commentator Kathy Barnette among party activists as the campaign started to escalate.

McCormick and Sands trailed at third and fourth place; and Oz and former Boxing Commissioner George Bochetto performed poorly, each receiving only one vote.

[22] Former president Trump endorsed Oz on April 10, citing the popularity of his television show and perceived appeal to female voters.

Barnette had also begun to rise in the polls at this point after a string of attention-getting debate performances and an ad spend in support of her by the Club for Growth.

Representatives Organizations Newspapers and other media Graphical summary Following the first night of results, it became clear that Oz and McCormick were the top two vote-getters in the election; however, the margin between them was too close to declare a victor.

[135] The first two major Democratic candidates were Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania John Fetterman and state representative Malcolm Kenyatta.

[138][139] As the campaign progressed, Lamb and Fetterman became the two most prominent candidates, with Kenyatta and Montgomery County Commissioner Val Arkoosh also receiving media attention.

[140] On February 4, 2022, Arkoosh withdrew from the race, her campaign having previously suffered from poor poll results and low support from party activists, leaving Kenyatta as the only major candidate from the Philadelphia region.

[141] In addition to Fetterman, Kenyatta, and Lamb, two minor candidates also made the Democratic primary ballot, namely Kevin Baumlin, a hospital physician, and Alexandra Khalil, a municipal official.

[146][147] The Penn Progress Super PAC bankrolled TV ads which sought to portray Fetterman as a "self-described democratic socialist."

[265] In the video, Oz says he is shopping for produce to make crudités and attributes the high prices to Democratic president Joe Biden.

[266][267] Oz's choice of a raw head of broccoli, asparagus, and multiple pounds of carrots, with guacamole and salsa, was criticized as wrong by some.

[266] Many observers noted Oz quoted the wrong price tag for the salsa and falsely suggested the broccoli was $2 per head when it was $2 per pound.

[271] In the October 25 debate, a special arrangement of transcription monitors was put in place to assist Fetterman with his auditory processing issue.

Nexstar denied the claims, arguing the captioning "worked as expected" and that the Fetterman team had had the opportunity for two rehearsals with the equipment and opted to only do one.

[bn] According to Ron Brownstein of CNN in 2023, Fetterman won independent voters by double-digit margins, which contributed to Oz's defeat.