Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz maintains a slim advantage over Democrat John Fetterman in Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senat race, according to a poll.
Oz leads Fetterman by a margin of 48 percent to 46 percent among the likely voters sampled in Emerson College’s poll released Thursday, days ahead of Tuesday’s pivotal election.
The poll, which the Hill sponsored, finds that four percent of likely voters are undecided, but Fetterman still trails Oz 48 percent to 47 percent when undecided leaners are accounted for.
The margin is a four-point swing compared to a September survey from the polling outfit, which had Fetterman at 45 percent and Oz at 43 percent. This is just one of the numerous polls that have shown Oz ahead following the candidates’ debate last week.
During the debate, Fetterman relied on a closed-captioning system to help with his auditory processing issues stemming from a severe stroke in May. Still, he repeatedly struggled with his words throughout the evening.
Of the 93 percent of poll respondents who had observed some degree of debate coverage, 50 percent say that Fetterman’s performance “worsened their opinion of” him, while 44 percent said their opinions of Oz improved.
“Of those who say they have heard, seen, or read a lot about the debate, Oz leads Fetterman 55% to 41%. Among those who have heard, seen, or read only a little or nothing about the debate, Fettterman leads 56% to 28%,” said Spencer Kimball, the executive director of Emerson College Polling.
Respondents support Democrat Attorney General Josh Shapiro over Republican State Sen. Doug Mastriano in the governor’s race by a margin of 50 percent to 41 percent. There is virtually no movement compared to Emerson College’s September poll, which had Shapiro at 51 percent and Mastriano at 40 percent.
Additionally, 51 percent of respondents say the economy is the most important issue to them, while “threats to democracy” and abortion rights were far behind at 14 percent and 9 percent, respectively.
Emerson College Polling surveyed 1,000 likely voters from October 28-31, and the poll has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.