Dr. Oz calls Lt. Gov. John Fetterman to concede Pennsylvania Senate race

Dr. Oz called Democrat John Fetterman Wednesday morning to concede defeat in their contentious Pennsylvania Senate race.

Fetterman’s lead over the celebrity doctor-turned-GOP politician widened to about 150,000 votes, or about 1.5%, with some Democratic-leaning votes still outstanding in Philadelphia and its populous suburbs.

Oz still has not spoken publicly since Fetterman declared victory early Wednesday morning in the contentious race.

The TV doctor, who won the GOP nomination after getting the endorsement of former President Donald Trump, ran up solid margins in the deep red hinterlands of the state, but fell short of the margins put up by Trump.

Fetterman narrowly outperformed President Biden’s winning margins in Philadelphia and its suburbs, along with his home region of western Pennsylvania.

The crucial race was dramatically shaken up when Fetterman suffered a serious stroke in May, forcing him off the campaign trail for months.

[ Fetterman and Oz both stumble in debate ]

The burly lieutenant governor took a big lead on the back of jibes that Oz was an elitist carpetbagger from neighboring New Jersey.

But Oz roared back to make it a near tossup as Republicans came home in the race’s closing weeks.

A much-anticipated debate appeared to deal a blow to Fetterman as he showed clear effects of the stroke. But that impact was minimal at best as Democratic voters rallied behind him and against Oz, who stumbled by saying decisions about abortion should be made by “women, doctors (and) local political leaders.”

So far, Pennsylvania’s Senate seat is the only one to flip from one party to the other, giving Democrats a huge edge as they seek to hold control of the chamber, which was evenly divided going into the midterms.

If Republicans hold their seats in a still-uncalled race in Wisconsin and Democrats hold their seats in Arizona and Nevada, Democrats would retain at least 50 seats.

That would give them control of the 100-seat Senate because Vice President Kamala Harris can cast a tie-breaking vote, regardless of the outcome of a Dec. 6 runoff in battleground Georgia.