Poll Suggests Oz Narrowing Gap in Pennsylvania Senate Race

A new poll of the U.S. Senate race in Pennsylvania suggests the race may be closer than previous polls — and pundits — have suggested.

The race between Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D) and Trump-endorsed Dr. Mehmet Oz (R) is being closely watched. Sen. Pat Toomey (R) is retiring, giving Democrats an opportunity to pick up a seat and thwart Republican ambitions to take control of the upper chamber of Congress.

Fetterman has led Oz in most polls, often by double digits. However, the race may be tightening.

A poll by the Trafalgar Group shows Oz within 5 points of Fetterman:

New independent@trafalgar_group #PASen #Poll (8/14-18) shows #Fetterman w/the lead #papol:

48.4% @JohnFetterman
43.5% @DrOz
1.8% @Erik4Senate
1.7%   Other
4.6%   Und

See Report: https://t.co/jZ24Ij6ljj pic.twitter.com/ypQQRL8ReI

— Robert C. Cahaly (@RobertCahaly) August 21, 2022

Currently, Fetterman is seen as having the advantage; the RealClearPolitics poll average has him up 7.5 points.

Oz was badly damaged in a tough primary contest that saw him cast as an outsider who had taken left-wing positions on social issues in the past. Fetterman was knocked off the campaign trail by a stroke, and appeared to have trouble speaking at his first post-recovery campaign appearance, but has held onto a dogged lead.

Fetterman has sought to capitalize on Oz’s recent reference to vegetables as “crudité,” reinforcing suspicions that he is an elitist who cannot relate to the state’s working-class population. But being the frontrunner also has its disadvantages: recent video surfaced in which Fetterman admits having chased an innocent black jogger down his street and pulling a gun on him.

In 2013, Democrat John Fetterman said he “did the right thing” by chasing down an unarmed Black jogger and pulling a shotgun on him. pic.twitter.com/j4dHUeKdRX

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) August 17, 2022

Fetterman has also come under fire for his radical views, such as that reducing prison population by one-third would not make Pennsylvania less safe.

Observers had suggested, prior to the new poll, that Oz might be making headway through old-fashioned, in-person campaigning, beyond the glare of the media lights and skirmishes on social media.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article has been updated to focus only on established pollsters.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.