Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman holds a 4-point lead over Mehmet Oz in their race for a Senate seat from Pennsylvania, according to an Emerson College poll Thursday that shows the men are tied with suburban voters who could determine the outcome.
Three out of four urban voters support Mr. Fetterman while 59% of rural voters back Mr. Oz, a celebrity doctor who had a television show.
“Suburban voters are the battleground for this election, they are split 47% support Fetterman and 47% support Oz,” said Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling.
The contest has turned nasty in recent weeks. Mr. Fetterman has pilloried Mr. Oz as out-of-touch with everyday Pennsylvanians for moving from New Jersey only recently and using the term crudite, instead of a simpler term like “veggie tray,” in a grocery store video the Oz campaign put out to highlight inflation.
The Oz campaign responded by saying if Mr. Fetterman had eaten more vegetables, he wouldn’t have had a stroke in May.
The Emerson poll found that 68% of voters say Mr. Fetterman’s stroke makes no difference in their vote, while 22% say it makes them less likely to vote for Mr. Fetterman, and 9% say it makes them more likely to vote for him.
Asked about Mr. Oz’s New Jersey ties, a majority of Pennsylvania voters (51%) say it makes them less likely to support Mr. Oz, 40% say it makes no difference and 9% say it makes them more likely to support Mr. Oz.
State Attorney General Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, leads State Sen. Doug Mastriano, a Republican, 47% to 44% in the race to replace term-limited Democrat, Gov. Tom Wolf, the poll found. Six percent are undecided, and 3% plan to support someone else.
Meanwhile, 39% of Pennsylvania voters approve of the job President Biden is doing while 57% disapprove.
Former President Donald Trump leads Mr. Biden among Pennsylvania voters, 47% to 42%, in a hypothetical 2024 matchup, while 8% would support someone else and 3% are undecided.
The poll was conducted Monday and Tuesday among 1,034 likely general-election voters with a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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