HARRISBURG, Pa. — Here’s what you need to know about Pennsylvania elections on Oct. 26:
Reactions to U.S. Senate debate
The first and only U.S. Senate debate between Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz and Democrat John Fetterman was closely watched across the country.
Fetterman stumbled over some of his words due to lingering symptoms from a stroke he suffered in May. His halting pace and choice of the wrong words drew attention away from the content of his answers, according to some of the voters watching the debate.
“It wasn’t any big surprise. To me it was embarrassing for Fetterman,” said Miles Houck of Harrisburg. Houck added the debate did not change his previous intent to vote for Oz.
Neither candidate revealed any positions during the debate that they hadn’t previously disclosed, and both spent much of their answer time attacking the other candidate.
On Wednesday, Oz said he was trying to bring civility to the debate.
“No one ever asks me how am I going to beat up the other side,” he said. “That’s not a question that comes up. What does come up is, ‘Stop bickering.’”
Oz campaign event with former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley
Dr. Oz held a campaign event with former South Carolina Governor and U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Nikki Haley. The event, focusing on crime, was held at the Pennsylvania State Trooper Association, which endorsed a split ticket of Oz for Senate and Democrat Josh Shapiro for governor.
York County District Attorney Dave Sunday was among the officials present at the event who praised Oz’s stance toward law enforcement.
Oz criticized a statement once made by John Fetterman that Fetterman agreed with a corrections officer who said prison populations could be cut by a third with no harm to the public.
“That’s an experiment. That hasn’t been tried before. I’d rather not do it all at once and certainly right now in the middle of the crime spree we’re in,” Oz said. “The violence rate is through the roof.”
Fetterman has said he does not support immediately releasing one-third of the current prison population.
A survey of major city police agencies found violent crime surged 7% in Philadelphia in 2022. It’s impossible to know how that trend compares to all of Pennsylvania, though, because the state’s police agencies use an outdated system of crime data reporting that can’t be submitted to the FBI.
Deadlines
Some important dates to keep in mind:
Nov. 1: Last day to request a mail-in ballot. You can apply online here.
Nov. 8: Election Day, and last-day ballots can arrive at county elections offices.
You can find more information on candidates, important dates and how to register to vote on our Election Guide page.