Pa. Senate and governor’s races

The field of candidates in Pennsylvania's Senate and gubernatorial races keeps expanding. We talk with three political reporters about the candidates and what's at stake.

The number of candidates in Pennsylvania’s 2022 Senate and gubernatorial races continues to grow. It seems like everyone is throwing their hat into the ring for these competitive seats.

With Senator Pat Toomey’s retirement, whoever replaces him could decide which party controls the U.S. Senate. So far, more than two dozen people have announced their bids for the Senate seat, including recently Dr. Mehmet Oz as a Republican candidate. And the field is almost as large for the governor’s office.

This hour, we get an update on the Senate and gubernatorial races, the candidates and what’s at stake for the battleground state.

JOHN BAER, columnist for Patriot- News/PennLive

KATIE MEYER, WHYY political reporter

JONATHAN TAMARI, national political writer for Philadelphia Inquirer

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Patriot-News/PennLive – Fetterman, Lamb and Pa. Democrats face big challenges in 2022 U. S. Senate race – “’It’s eerily reminiscent of 2010 (when Democrats lost 63 House seats and six Senate seats, and Pennsylvania elected a Republican governor and senator). You can’t ignore the climate…it suggests our candidates have a more moderate approach.’”

WHYY – Progressive, centrist, Trumper? These Pa. 2022 candidates could change the balance of power in the U.S. Senate  – “There are only two states on the map that Republicans hold that Democrats won in the presidential race, and those are Pennsylvania and Wisconsin,” she said. “Of those races, Pennsylvania, I think especially given that it’s an open seat, is really the best opportunity that Democrats have to flip a seat.”

Philadelphia Inquirer – Senate candidate Mehmet Oz says he’s a Pennsylvania resident now. So why’s he still hanging out in his New Jersey mansion? – “Oz’s social media still frequently show him at his North Jersey mansion, long after he says he moved to Pennsylvania. More than 20 posts in the last three months alone appear to show him at his Cliffside Park home.”