Fetterman Beats Oz In PA U.S. Senate Election: AP

Follow along for live updates on the Pennsylvania U.S. Senate election results. Democrat John Fetterman was facing off against Republican Mehmet Oz.

Update: 2:15 a.m.

The Associated Press has called the race for the U.S. Senate seat in Pennsylvania for John Fetterman, flipping a highly competitive race and sustaining the party’s hopes of maintaining control of the upper chamber.

As of 2:15 a.m., the Pennsylvania Department of State website indicated Fetterman had 2,501,681 votes. Oz had 2,364,983.

Update: 1:30 a.m.

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman took the stage early Wednesday morning to claim victory in the race against Republican candidate Mehmet Oz, though The Associated Press had still not called the race. Other outlets, like NBC News and ABC News were predicting a Fetterman win.

"I'm so humbled, thank you so much, really," Fetterman told a crowd of supporters. "It's 1:30 in the morning and you're still here hanging in... we launched this campaign almost two years ago, and we had our slogan. It's on every one of those signs right now: 'Every county, every vote'. And that's exactly what happened. We jammed them up. We held the line. I never expected that we were going to turn these red counties blue, but we did what we needed to do, and we had that conversation across every one of those counties. And tonight, that's why I'll be the next U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania."

In brief remarks to his election night party crowd at a fitness center in suburban Philadelphia, Oz also thanked supporters and exuded optimism.

“When all the ballots are counted, we believe we will win this race,” Oz told the jubilant crowd.

Fetterman: 2,480,141
Oz: 2,353,299

Update: 12:40 a.m.

As of early Wednesday, The Associated Press had not called the race. In brief remarks to his election night party crowd at a fitness center in suburban Philadelphia, Oz thanked supporters and predicted victory.“When all the ballots are counted, we believe we will win this race,” Oz told the jubilant crowd.

Update: 12:22 a.m.

Some 86 percent of precincts have returned results. Fetterman’s lead remains very narrow, but analysts see him as the likely winner given his performance in Democratic-leaning areas and the fact that many of the votes that remain to be counted are mail-in ballots, which traditionally are more Democrat heavy. Latest tallies:

Fetterman: 2,198,616
Oz: 2,169,289

Update: 11:47 p.m.

Fetterman: 2,133,172

Oz: 2,083,912

Update: 11:27 p.m.

Fetterman's lead has shrunk dramatically. He has 2,081,312 votes to Oz's 2,029,148, a razor-thin margin with some precincts still not reporting.

Some remain confident of an ultimate Democratic victory. Fetterman is "outrunning Biden just about everywhere in Pennsylvania," Nate Cohn, the New York Times' chief political analyst, said on Twitter. "Our estimate now leans Democratic."

Update: 11 p.m.

Josh Shapiro has won the Pennsylvania gubernatorial race over Doug Mastriano, giving Democrats one huge victory in the state. All eyes have now turned to Fetterman's race with Oz, which is notably closer than the U.S. Senate race.

Update: 10:32 p.m.

Fetterman is maintaining his lead, with half a million more votes on his tally than the last update. He's ahead of Oz, 1,401,803 to 1,224,624.

Update: 10:05 p.m.

The latest tallies have Fetterman leading Oz by a vote of 922,814 to 789,049.

Update: 9:58 p.m.

Fetterman holds a lead of 652,354 votes to Oz's 483,373 votes.

Original story

PENNSYLVANIA — It has been close to two hours since the polls closed in Pennsylvania and Democratic U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman appears to be ahead of Republican candidate Mehmet Oz.

The results were unofficial returns reported on the Pennsylvania Department of State website.

Elections officials are still in the process of tallying votes for state and federal races across Pennsylvania in this year's mid-term elections, and Patch will bring you the latest results as they become available.

One of the most closely watched federal races in both Pennsylvania and across the nation was the U.S. Senate contest between Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Mehmet Oz.

Fetterman currently serves as the lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania while Oz, a political newcomer, is a celebrity doctor who moved into the world of politics after making a name for himself on television.

Oz moved to Pennsylvania not too long ago after living out of state. He shares a home with his wife in Bryn Athyn, a small borough neighboring Lower Moreland Township that lies just over the border with the City of Philadelphia.

Fetterman is a native of York County who moved to the town of Braddock in western Pennsylvania, a small community whose name has become synonymous with Fetterman over the years. (The lieutenant governor sports Braddock's zip code on his forearm in the form of a tattoo).

He served as Braddock's mayor from 2006 to 2019.

Oz had gotten some flack in the media for his decision to run for the U.S. Senate seat in Pennsylvania, since he spent much time living in neighboring New York and New Jersey.

His wife's family, however, hails from Montgomery County. And Oz did reside in the commonwealth when he attended the University of Pennsylvania.

Questions were also raised by some regarding whether Fetterman is fit for the Senate seat given the stroke he suffered during the campaign season.

Some questioned whether his health issues would pose any problems on the job.