Oprah's Endorsement Record Compared to Donald Trump's

Oprah Winfrey provided a late endorsement of Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman, Pennsylvania's current lieutenant governor who is running against Donald Trump-backed Dr. Mehmet Oz.

Winfrey's endorsement gained considerable attention on Friday and was especially notable due to her personal ties to Oz, who rose to prominence as a celebrity doctor through appearances on her long-running talk show. Additionally, Winfrey initially declined to back anyone in the race, telling New York magazine late last year that "it's up to the residents of Pennsylvania to decide who will represent them."

During an online get-out-the-vote event on Thursday night, Winfrey said: "I'll tell you all this, if I lived in Pennsylvania, I would have already cast my vote for John Fetterman for many reasons."

Winfrey listed several other Democratic candidates she said she would back if she was voting in their respective states: Senate candidate Cheri Beasley in North Carolina, Senate candidate Val Demings in Florida, Senate candidate Mandela Barnes in Wisconsin, Senator Catherine Cortez Masto in Nevada, Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O'Rourke and Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams. Winfrey had already endorsed Democratic Maryland gubernatorial candidate Wes Moore.

Winfrey's backing came with the November 8 midterm elections just days away, and the Senate race in Pennsylvania growing increasingly tight. Fetterman, who has seen double-digit leads at some points in the race against Oz, now has only a half-point advantage based on FiveThirtyEight's polling average.

The outcome of the race will be one of the biggest tests for former President Trump's and Winfrey's political influence. Winfrey's endorsement of then-Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama in 2008 gained widespread coverage and attention. Notably, Obama won that election as well as the following presidential race.

But not all of the few instances in which Winfrey has publicly put her backing behind political candidates have ended in victory.

One of Winfrey's rare examples of political support was for Abrams when she ran for the Georgia governor's seat in 2018. Winfrey joined Abrams on the campaign trail for a couple of town hall events, CNN reported, but she ultimately lost to Republican Governor Brian Kemp.

Winfrey endorsed former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when she ran for president in 2016 against Trump, who won that election. In 2013, Winfrey endorsed Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey, NJ.com reported, before his victory.

Dr. Rob Goodman, an assistant professor in Toronto Metropolitan University's Department of Politics and Public Administration, told Newsweek that the value of celebrity endorsements lies in who and what the public identifies with. If the public already identifies with a celebrity, such as Winfrey, and then that celebrity endorses a political candidate, it can send the message that they are on the same team.

"It sends a message, I think, about identification and group membership and being part of a certain kind of cultural niche, which is part of the reason why I think politicians seek out celebrity endorsements and why they can send helpful signals," Goodman said.

Trump, on the other hand, has seen considerable success in endorsements in the 2022 midterms cycle. In September, an NPR tally found that the vast majority, 91 percent, of candidates Trump has endorsed for Senate, House and other top state executive offices across the country won their primaries. He has given endorsements to more than 200 Republican candidates overall, according to NPR's count, as of early September.

While the general election results and the true impact of Trump's support won't be known until after Election Day, many Trump-backed candidates, particularly in the Senate, are considered to be headed for victory.

Of the 22 Republican candidates that Trump has endorsed for the Senate, only two are at risk of losing their races, according to a Newsweek analysis. A spokesperson for the former president has touted his influence on the midterms, telling ABC News that his endorsements are having "an incredible impact."

Trump, as an endorser, might be placing a strong value on the outcomes of the races in which he backed candidates because it can speak to the strength of his influence in the Republican Party. That could be particularly important as he reportedly weighs announcing another presidential run for 2024.

"Things like this matter for him in the sense that I think they're perceived by him, and by a lot of other people in the Republican Party, as a test of his continued sway over Republican voters," Goodman said.

"His endorsements, to the extent that they go well, bolster the idea that he's still the undisputed leader of the party. If they were to go less well, that might offer an opening for someone to suggest that the base of the party has moved on from him."

The Oprah Winfrey Network declined to comment to Newsweek.

Newsweek reached out to a Trump spokesperson for comment.

Update 11/4/22, 3:30 p.m. ET: This story was updated with comments from Dr. Rob Goodman.