Gisele Barreto Fetterman, rear center, wife of Pennsylvania Lt. Governor John Fetterman, who is running for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate for Pennsylvania, is greeted by a group of reporters as she exits her polling place after voting in Braddock, Pa., Tuesday, May 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Gene J. Puskar

HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman has won the state’s Democratic primary for U.S. Senate just days after suffering a stroke.

The 52-year-old Fetterman defeated U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb and state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta on Tuesday to advance to November’s general election. He will face the winner of a hotly contested Republican primary that includes Dr. Mehmet Oz, ex-hedge fund CEO David McCormick and community activist Kathy Barnette.

In this photo provided by campaign staffer Bobby Maggio, Pennsylvania Lt. Governor and Democratic Party candidate for a U.S. Senate John Fetterman fills out his emergency absentee ballot for the Pennsylvania primary election in Penn Medicine Lancaster General Hospital in Lancaster, Pa, on Election Day, Tuesday, May, 17, 2022. Fetterman remained in the hospital after suffering a stroke right before the weekend. Bobby Maggio via AP

Bobby Maggio

Fetterman suffered a stroke Friday, injecting uncertainty into the Democratic primary race that for weeks had been shaping up as a runaway. He said he is on his way to a “full recovery” but will remain in the hospital for a while.

Fetterman, a former mayor of Braddock, is a progressive who has vowed to be a reliable vote for organized labor and liberal causes in Washington. Democrats see the seat being vacated by retiring Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey as among their best pickup opportunities in the country.