John Fetterman, Pennsylvania Democrat, Suffers Stroke Days Before Primary

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Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, the leading Democrat in the state’s high-profile Senate contest, has suffered a stroke, his campaign revealed on Sunday.

The 52-year-old Fetterman, who confirmed that he had been hospitalized all weekend, insisted the health emergency wasn’t slowing his campaign. But the stunning revelation, two days before Pennsylvania’s primary, created a cloud of uncertainty over the Democratic front-runner’s candidacy in what may be one of the party’s best Senate pickup opportunities.

In a 16-second video released by his campaign, a seated Fetterman, speaking clearly, explained that he “just wasn’t feeling very well” on Friday and decided to go to the hospital at the urging of his wife.

In a written statement, Fetterman offered the following detail:

“I had a stroke that was caused by a clot from my heart being in an A-fib rhythm for too long.”

Fetterman said the doctors were able to remove the clot, “reversing the stroke,” and got his heart under control.

“The good news is I’m feeling much better, and the doctors tell me I didn’t suffer any cognitive damage,” he said in the statement.

Update: Fetterman was subsequently fitted with a pacemaker.

Fetterman’s entire family is fully vaccinated and boosted.

On January 27, Democratic senator Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico was hospitalized for a stroke. Lujan is 49.