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.

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.

“John Fetterman is about to undergo a standard procedure to implant a pacemaker with a defibrillator. It should be a short procedure that will help protect his heart and address the underlying cause of his stroke, atrial fibrillation (A-fib), by regulating his heart rate and rhythm,” his campaign said in a statement.

Fetterman posted a photo on social media Tuesday of himself filling out an emergency absentee ballot from Penn Medicine Lancaster General Hospital in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

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.

On Friday morning, before Fetterman was to appear at a scheduled campaign event at Millersville University, Fetterman's wife, Gisele, "noticed that John was not himself, and shortly after he started slurring his speech and he was taken to the hospital," a campaign spokesperson said.

In a 16-second video released by his campaign, a seated Fetterman, speaking clearly, explained that he "just wasn't feeling very well" on Friday and decided to go to the hospital at the urging of his wife. He detailed the situation further in a written statement.

"I had a stroke that was caused by a clot from my heart being in an A-fib rhythm for too long," Fetterman said. He said the doctors were able to remove the clot, "reversing the stroke," and got his heart under control.

"The good news is I'm feeling much better, and the doctors tell me I didn't suffer any cognitive damage," he said in the statement.

Democrats see the race to replace Pennsylvania's retiring Republican Sen. Pat Toomey as one of their best opportunities pick up a Senate seat this fall. Voters will decide the general election nominees for both parties on Tuesday.

The GOP primary features celebrity heart surgeon Mehmet Oz, former hedge fund executive David McCormick and conservative commentator Kathy Barnette, among others. Democrats are picking from a four-person field that includes Fetterman, three-term U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb and state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta.

Fetterman's opponents Lamb and Kenyatta each expressed their best wishes to the frontrunner.

"Hayley and I are keeping John and his family in our prayers and wishing him a full and speedy recovery," Lamb wrote.

Kenyatta called Fetterman "an incredible family man." "My prayers are with him and his family as he recovers from this stroke," he tweeted. "I look forward to seeing him back on the campaign trail soon."

And on the Republican side, Oz noted that he has experience treating Fetterman's condition.

"I have cared for atrial fibrillation patients and witnessed the miracles of modern medicine in the treatment of strokes, so I am thankful that you received care so quickly," Oz tweeted. "My whole family is praying for your speedy recovery."

Fetterman's heart condition, atrial fibrillation, occurs when the heart's top chambers, called the atria, get out of sync with the bottom chambers' pumping action. Sometimes patients feel a flutter or a racing heart, but many times they're not aware of an episode.

A-fib is most common in older adults, and other risks include high blood pressure or a family history of arrhythmias. It causes 130,000 deaths and 750,000 hospitalizations a year in the U.S.

Fetterman, who is 6-foot-8, has been open about his push to lose weight in the past. He weighed in at over 400 pounds before losing nearly 150 pounds in 2018.

His imposing stature has been a big part of his political appeal.

Soon after the race was called in Fetterman's favor, President Joe Biden issued a short statement via Twitter, saying that Fetterman's election to the Senate "would be a big step forward for Pennsylvania's working people."

This is a breaking story and will be updated.