Not Just John Fetterman: Senators Who Had Strokes in Office

A renewed wave of scrutiny has fallen over the health of Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman after his debate with Republican rival Mehmet Oz, but if elected, the stroke survivor would have good company in Congress.

Fetterman, who suffered a stroke in May, was ripped by commentators after he struggled to communicate effectively and at times spoke haltingly during the debate over Pennsylvania's hotly contested Senate seat. Because of his lingering challenges with auditory processing, the candidate used closed-captioning to help him understand the moderator's questions and Oz's responses.

Critics on both sides of the political aisle called his performance "disastrous" and "painful to watch." Fetterman himself acknowledged that the debate "wasn't exactly easy," but declared that he may have made "American political history" by appearing onstage just five months after his stroke.

Fetterman's campaign spokesperson Joe Calvello told Newsweek the candidate has released two reports from his cardiologist and his primary care physician, both saying he is "fit to serve."

"Unfortunately for Dr. Oz and the pathetic Republicans who are desperately rooting against his recovery, John is getting better every day and he is going to win this race to be Pennsylvania's next Senator," said Calvello. "In January, John is going to be even better—and Dr. Oz will still be a fraud."

Although the Democrat allowed himself little recovery time before jumping back on the campaign trail, his health challenges would be far from unique in Congress. Just this year, two sitting senators had strokes while in office.

Ben Ray Luján, a Democratic senator from New Mexico, suffered a stroke in January. He underwent surgery and returned to work full time about a month later. Another Democratic senator, Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, was hospitalized for a stroke after he experienced "lightheadedness and acute neck pain" during a speech. He was back at the Capitol within a few weeks.

Other politicians have weathered medical emergencies on the campaign trail. Bernie Sanders had a heart attack in 2019 while serving both as Vermont's Democratic senator and while running for president. He was released from the hospital the same day and swiftly returned to his campaign, appearing in the national Democratic debate just two weeks later. Although Sanders lost his bid for the presidency, supporters turned out to vote for him after his heart attack.

Former Illinois Senator Mark Kirk ran for reelection in 2016 after a severe stroke left the Republican wheelchair-bound and partially paralyzed. He spent a year in recovery, absent from the Senate, after the 2012 stroke.

Kirk lost his race against Tammy Duckworth, a Democrat who herself has a disability stemming from injuries sustained during military service. However, it's not clear how much Kirk's health influenced the outcome, according to Roll Call. He made a series of gaffes during his campaign and Illinois turned far more Democratic between 2010 and 2016, a highly partisan presidential election year.