2022 midterm election news as Democrats, Republicans vie for control of Congress

Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, D-Pa., recently accepted a debate against Trump-backed opponent Dr. Mehmet Oz, as they compete for Pennsylvania’s open Senate seat.

After he accepted the long-awaited debate, Oz blasted Fetterman for agreeing to debate just two weeks before November’s midterm election, after early voting already started. Absentee ballots will be sent to voters in Pennsylvania on Sept. 19, while the heated matchup will take place on October 25.

Brittany Yanick, Communications Director for Oz told Fox News “… ballots go out to Pennsylvania voters on September 19th, but John Fetterman has committed to only 1 debate, just two weeks before the election. The candidates need to be debating early and often. Even the Washington Post Editorial Board is saying that Fetterman should commit to multiple debates as early as next week. If he’s able to speak in front of a crowd of 3,000, he’s either healthy enough to debate and wants to hide his radical record, or he’s lying about his health. He needs to be honest and transparent with Pennsylvanians.”

Joe Calvello, the director of communications for Fetterman, told Fox News that, “The debate will take place two weeks from Election Day. For perspective, even during the pandemic-altered election of 2020, when historic numbers voted by mail, 83% of ballots in Pennsylvania were cast in the final two weeks leading up to the election—not that Dr. Oz would know that; in 2020, he voted in New Jersey. This year, that percentage is expected to be even higher.”

The Pennsylvania Department of State has not yet confirmed if 83% of ballots were cast in the last two weeks before election day in 2020. According to the department, in 2020, 4,216,030 ballots were cast in-person on Election Day, while 2,637,065 mail and absentee ballots were cast prior to November 8.