Democratic candidate John Fetterman is leading Republican candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz by 11 points in the Pennsylvania Senate race, according to the results of a poll.
A survey published Thursday by Fox News found that 47% of voters back Fetterman, who is currently lieutenant governor of the state, compared to 36% backing Oz, a celebrity doctor. Three percent of voters said they back the independent candidate, Everett Stern, while 13% remain undecided.
“It’s tough to underestimate the Herculean rehabilitation that Oz needs to perform on himself to make this race competitive. Once voters decide they don’t like you, it’s hard to convince them otherwise. Unfortunately for Pennsylvania voters, that probably means a supercharged negative campaign where Oz tries to pull Fetterman down,” said Democratic pollster Chris Anderson, who helped conduct the poll.
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Fetterman holds a major enthusiasm advantage as well, with 35% of Oz’s supporters saying they support him enthusiastically, compared to nearly twice as many of Fetterman’s supporters. Three times as many Republicans are worried about Oz being up to the job than are Democrats worried about Fetterman, who is also better liked, with about half of voters viewing him favorably, compared to just over a third viewing Oz favorably.
“Pennsylvania is patient zero for the talking point that Republicans could lose the Senate by nominating flawed candidates. The mood is negative, the president’s ratings are poor, and issue environment favors the GOP, but their candidate is chasing 10 points because Republicans aren’t sure he’s capable,” said Republican pollster Daron Shaw, who helped conduct the poll with Anderson.
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Oz has been plagued throughout his campaign by allegations that he is out of touch with Pennsylvania voters due to both his wealth and longtime New Jersey residency. Fetterman has trolled Oz over the latter in recent weeks, sharing a video from Jersey Shore star Snooki in which she speaks about New Jersey’s love for Oz. The lieutenant governor has also petitioned for Oz to be inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame. Fetterman had a stroke in May and stressed in a recent interview that he does not have any “physical limits” and has “nothing to hide” about his health status.
The candidates are vying for the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Pat Toomey (R). The new survey was conducted July 22-26 under the joint direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company (R), according to Fox News, which noted it included interviews with 908 randomly selected registered Pennsylvania voters. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.
