Poll: Kathy Barnette Losing Support, Voters Shifting to David McCormick, Carla Sands

Pennsylvania Republican voters are shifting their support from Kathy Barnette towards other candidates like David McCormick or Carla Sands on the eve of Tuesday’s Senate GOP primary, according to a recent poll.

Of those surveyed, 13 percent used to support Barnette but now favor another candidate or are still undecided. Questions about Barnette’s electability likely contribute to the shift away from her. The poll found that 80 percent of voters are worried about Barnette’s electability in some capacity. Conversely, only 20 percent of voters are “not at all” worried about Barnette’s electability.

McCormick is the second choice among Barnette supporters, with 29.8 percent of her supporters saying the businessman is who they would support next. Behind McCormick is Sands, who 22.8 percent of Barnette supporters say is their second choice. Only 7.9 percent of Barnette supporters have Mehmet Oz as their second option.

The poll, internally conducted by Sands’ campaign, seems to confirm anecdotal reports over the weekend that voters were changing their minds from Barnette to McCormick.

The Sands campaign surveyed 500 likely Pennsylvania voters to conduct their poll.

“It seems that voters are increasingly rejecting Kathy Barnette as they learn more about her,” said Alec Jones, Sands’ campaign manager. “With 1 out of 5 voters still undecided, the outcome of Tuesday’s election is difficult to forecast.”

Pennsylvania’s GOP Senate primary will happen on Tuesday, May 17.