watch your back
Oz creeps up on Fetterman in new PA poll
Republican congressional candidate in Pennsylvania Dr. Mehmet Oz is making gains in the final weeks of his contentious Senate race, now polling inside the margin of error against Democratic opponent John Fetterman, Politico reported Tuesday, per a new AARP Pennsylvania poll.
The poll shows Fetterman with support from 48 percent of likely voters and Oz with support from 46, "effectively tying the two" since the results fall within the survey's margin of error, The Hill writes. It's also a "shift in Oz's direction since June, when Fetterman, the state's lieutenant governor, was leading by 6 percentage points in the AARP survey," Politico adds.
Though Oz's favorability ratings have improved since the summer, he's still not polling as well as his opponent in that department. He is, however, notably preferred 51 percent to 44 percent among independent voters, 54 percent to 41 percent among male voters, and 60 percent to 36 percent among rural voters. Fetterman, on the other hand, bests Oz slightly among voters ages 18 to 49, voters ages 50 and above, women, and suburban voters, The Hill reports, per AARP.
In the much wider race for Pennsylvania governor, Democrat Josh Shapiro is polling well ahead of Republican opponent Doug Mastriano, AARP found. Shapiro has support from 53 percent of likely voters, while Mastriano has backing from just 42.
The AARP poll was conducted by firms Fabrizio Ward and Impact Research, who surveyed 1,377 likely Pennsylvania voters between Oct. 4-12. The margins of error for the statewide sample, the sample of 855 voters ages 50 and up, and the sample of 400 Black voters ages 50 and up are +/- 4.4 percentage points, 3.4 percentage points, and 4.9 percentage points, respectively.