Pennsylvania US Senate candidate Fetterman suffers stroke but says he’s ‘well on my way to a full recovery’
(CNN) — John Fetterman, Pennsylvania lieutenant governor and Democratic US Senate candidate, announced Sunday that he had a stroke and went to the hospital on Friday, but said in a statement, “I’m feeling much better, and the doctors tell me I didn’t suffer any cognitive damage. I’m well on my way to a full recovery.”
Pennsylvania’s primary is on Tuesday, and Fetterman is the favorite to win the Democratic Senate contest, with polls showing him holding a significant lead over Rep. Conor Lamb and state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta.
“I had a stroke that was caused by a clot from my heart being in an A-fib rhythm for too long,” he said in the statement.
Fetterman said he is continuing on in the race.
“Our campaign isn’t slowing down one bit, and we are still on track to win this primary on Tuesday, and flip this Senate seat in November,” he said.
Fetterman began canceling events on Friday. Just as an event outside Lancaster was set to start, campaign spokesman Joe Calvello informed the crowd that Fetterman had woken up not feeling well and, out of an abundance of caution, the campaign decided to cancel the event.
On Friday night, Calvello told reporters the evening event was canceled because Fetterman was “not feeling well, so we took him to get checked out.”
Fetterman’s campaign did not give any indication that the lieutenant governor was in the hospital and did not respond to questions about whether the illness was Covid-related.
Fetterman also canceled a handful of events on Saturday and Sunday.
Lamb, one of Fetterman’s opponents, responded to the news Sunday, saying he and his wife Hayley “are keeping John and his family in our prayers and wishing him a full and speedy recovery.”
Kenyatta also responded to the news.
“As I said at the first debate, John is an incredible family man. My prayers are with him and his family as he recovers from this stroke,” Kenyatta said in a statement to CNN. “I look forward to seeing him back on the campaign trail soon!”