Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, who is running against Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz to represent the state in the U.S. Senate, has "created the problems" with crime that are hitting the state's major cities, Rep. Guy Reschenthaler said on Newsmax, Wednesday.
"Let me give you some stats on how bad it is," the Pennsylvania Republican said on Newsmax's "Wake Up America." "Pennsylvania had the most murders, the most homicides on record, in recorded history last year, and they're on track to beat that record this year in 2022."
In Philadelphia, a person has a 1 in 102 chance of being the victim of a small crime, and in Pittsburgh, it's 1 in 135, said Reschenthaler.
"It's staggering — and Fetterman is largely to blame," he said. "He released 10,000 inmates during COVID and voted numerous times to release people convicted of heinous first-degree crimes. Sometimes on the board of pardons, he was the only vote to release a violent criminal.
He's on record saying that we should release roughly 1,200 inmates convicted of second-degree murder. He wants to end the crime, a felony murder. He wants to end cash bail."
Voters are responding when they know more, and that's why Oz's numbers are starting to climb, said Reschenthaler.
Going into the race, Oz was down by 16% because there were no negative ads on Fetterman, Reschenthaler added.
"People thought that he was just some guy that rides a Harley and has tattoos, and was a small-town mayor," he said. "Now the Senate Republicans and Dr. Oz are exposing [his] hypocrisy, exposing how soft he is on crime, and he is plummeting."
Pennsylvania voters, Reschenthaler said, see crime as one of the most important issues facing the state, with the economy and inflation the only two categories above that.
"The trajectory is there for Dr. Oz," he said. "I think that the Republicans pick up between three and five seats in the House. That's how bad the crime issue is going for Democrats, and that's why Oz's numbers are starting to climb … as voters focus on crime, it's only going to help our numbers and help our results come election night."
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