Fetterman and Oz do Philly | Election Newsletter
Pennsylvania's critical 2022 Senate race brings a moment of competing political ambitions in the state's biggest city.
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It’s a week bookended by Philly.
Republican Senate nominee Mehmet Oz was in Kensington for an extended visit on Monday, while Democratic rival John Fetterman is coming to the city’s Cedarbrook neighborhood Saturday — his first public Philadelphia event of the entire 2022 campaign.
It’s a moment of competing political ambitions in Pennsylvania’s biggest city.
Oz’s focus on Philadelphia has been particularly notable. He got cheesesteaks (wit’ Twitter trolling) earlier this summer. He was in Westfield with Sen. Pat Toomey earlier this month, in Kensington in July, and back again this week. Why is Oz spending so much time in such a deep-blue bastion?
Democrats outnumber Republicans seven to one in Philly, but it’s still a place where GOP candidates can get a lot of raw votes — about 4% percent of Trump’s total Pennsylvania votes came from the city in 2020. Even if Republicans can’t win it, holding down their losses can be big. And of course, media coverage of downtown campaign events spreads to the populous suburbs, too.
Oz started his Monday visit in Germantown, where he heard from community leaders about gun violence. Then he went to Kensington, where he talked to drug treatment counselors and people using drugs, bringing his TV showmanship to the heart of the city’s opioid crisis.
The five-hour visit, with media trailing him the whole time, seemed to serve a dual purpose: In talking with community leaders and unveiling a vague “Plan for Black Communities,” he’s trying to grab some votes in Philadelphia. But he’s also using Philly as a symbol to talk to the suburbs and the wider electorate about crime in Democratic-run cities — and that’s almost surely the bigger goal.
Fetterman finally comes to town
Fetterman has built his campaign on being a candidate who can compete in all 67 counties — including rural, heavily Republican ones.
And as a Western Pa. guy, it’s no secret that Fetterman has a lot of love for his side of the state and the 1-1 Pittsburgh Steelers. People close to him acknowledge he has at least a veiled annoyance with all the attention Philly gets.
Maybe that’s why he didn’t do any rallies in Philadelphia during the primary. He’s made quieter stops, usually for private meetings or small events only announced after the fact. But on Saturday he’ll rally with Congressman Dwight Evans at a Northwest Philly rec center.
Fetterman is trying to rewrite the long-accepted playbook for statewide Democratic campaigns: He’s campaigning heavily in rural areas, aiming to lose Trump Country by smaller margins, while spending less time in the heavily Democratic (and more voter-rich) spots like Philadelphia, were Biden got 17% of his votes in 2020. Fetterman was in rural Indiana County last night.
When we talk to leaders in the city, they repeatedly point to crime and economic opportunity as two major concerns — often together.
“A person that’s making $25 or $35 an hour is not out shooting anyone, because they have an opportunity,” said Anton Moore, a Democratic ward leader from South Philly.
And while Fetterman hasn’t yet talked much about those issues specifically as they relate to Philly, the city’s elected Democrats haven’t expressed concern about his campaign schedule. They point to his ability to reach supporters online, as well as private fundraisers and meetings he held over the summer with Black ward leaders and City Council members.
“All of us know we have to energize voters and that’s gonna require a more personal presence which he’s aware of,” State Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams. “He’s been here at different spots but we are gonna up the level of connectivity.”
Philadelphia is a finicky place for Democrats. Their turnout actually grew in 2020, but their margin shrunk as Trump made inroads with a Hispanic voters.
You can already color Philly blue on your election night map. But whether it’s midnight, deep navy, or something a little lighter could decide who goes to the Senate.
Overheard on the campaign trail
“The only reason you pull back on digital or digital fund-raising is because it’s not working, or you have no money. It’s one of those two reasons.”
-Ryan Rodgers, a Republican strategist, on Oz’s lack of Facebook advertising.
What else you should know
GOP leaders come to PA: The top three House Republicans are coming to Western Pennsylvania Friday to unveil their “Commitment to America” ahead of the midterms. It’s being pitched as a GOP agenda similar to the “Contract with America” that propelled the party to power in 1994. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Minority Whip Steve Scalise, and Conference Chair Elise Stefanik will be in Monongahela, about 20 miles south of Pittsburgh. The choice illustrates the GOP’s increasing reliance on voters in rural and exurban areas, though they won’t be too far from the battleground in suburban Pittsburgh, where Democratic Rep. Conor Lamb is leaving office and the competition to replace him is fierce.
Oz favors raising the minimum wage — we think: During his day in Philly, Oz was asked if he’d vote to increase the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. “I’m supportive of the minimum wage increasing to suit the economic needs of a community but we are shooting way too low to accept the minimum wage as our goal,” Oz said. “Because we really have to be able to get families of four to be able to thrive and you can’t do that on $15 an hour.” He didn’t clarify for reporters whether he would vote to raise it or what baseline he thinks is appropriate.
What we’re reading
Focusing on crime, Republicans think they’ve finally put Fetterman on the defensive: When Trump rallied in NEPA earlier this month, inflation wasn’t the main line of attack. It was crime. The GOP is hammering Fetterman on the issue, focusing almost all its TV advertising on that one topic, and forcing the Democrat to respond with his own ads rebutting the attacks. We looked at what he’s actually said, and why Republicans think this is a winning issue.
He could be our first Jewish president. But first he needs to beat a Christian nationalist: Politico’s Holly Otterbein explored how state Attorney General Josh Shapiro, who is devoutly Jewish, has tried to highlight GOP gubernatorial opponent Doug Mastriano’s Christrian nationalism, and appeal to voters of all faiths as he campaigns around the state.
A new ‘prophet’ on the campaign trail with Mastriano is a prayer-coin salesman who calls Biden the ‘antichrist’: Allow our Inquirer colleague Bill Bender to introduce you to Lance Wallnau, a Texas-based evangelist with a history of making outlandish claims and spreading conspiracy theories. He’s now stumping for Mastriano.
🍂 Get yourself to a fall festival while the weather allows. See ya next week!