May 22 – Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman was released from the hospital today following a stroke and week-long stay in Lancaster General.
Fetterman won the Democratic nomination for Pat Toomey’s US Senate seat during Tuesday’s primary election – the same day he had pacemaker surgery to regulate his heart.
According to Fetterman, the stroke was caused by a clot from his heart being in atrial fibrillation for too long and the doctors were able to remove the clot without any cognitive repercussions.
Fetterman said he will return to Braddock, Pa., where his plans are to “continue to rest and recover” so he can “go full speed soon and flip this seat blue” in November.
Toomey, a Republican, has held the US Senate seat in Pennsylvania since 2011.
With the news of Fetterman’s stroke and subsequent surgery, some are wondering how long the condition had actually been developing.
On the local weekend Political Radio show Political Vibe, attorney Clint Barkdoll said, “I think he and the campaign knew how bad it was, but the timing of it, they very deliberately soft-pedaled it, not wanting anything to go sideways for Election Day. So I think his health is very much an issue that he is going to have to address in the campaign.”
Additionally, this kind of serious surgery isn’t typically a spur-of-the-moment decision.
Barkdoll pointed out, “I’ve heard a lot of these medical experts say there is no way he would have gotten a pacemaker and a defibrillator put in like that with a day or two notice. Those are typically things that would have been scheduled way in advance and is it a signal that he might have larger health issues than they’re letting on?”
