A new Muhlenberg College/Morning Call poll has Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Mehmet Oz tied in the Pennsylvania Senate race just days before Election Day.
The poll found 47 percent of likely voters said they would vote for Fetterman, 47 percent said they would vote for Oz, 3 percent said they would vote for neither or another candidate, and 2 percent said they weren’t sure. The poll has a margin of error of 6 percentage points and was conducted between October 24 and 28 among 460 likely Pennsylvania voters.
Meanwhile, 45 percent of likely voters said they have a favorable view of Fetterman, while 31 percent said they have a favorable view of Oz.
The poll results come just days after the major newspaper in Allegheny County, where Fetterman’s adopted hometown of Braddock is situated, endorsed Oz.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote: “Mr. Fetterman’s health — he suffered a serious stroke in May — is not the issue. His lack of transparency, however, in refusing to release his medical records is troubling. It suggests an impulse to conceal and a mistrust of the people. All candidates for a major elected office should release their medical records, as did Mr. Oz. If you want privacy, don’t run for public office.”
The endorsement comes after the first and only debate between the two Senate candidates showed Fetterman at times seeming confused and struggling to answer some questions, despite relying on closed captioning for what he has said are lingering auditory processing issues from a stroke he suffered in May.
“Mr. Fetterman’s life experience and maturity are also concerns,” the editorial adds.
The paper also noted Fetterman’s lack of apology for pulling a shotgun on an unarmed black jogger in 2013 as a point of concern, saying that while “It was, we believe, an honest mistake,” that “it’s troubling that Mr. Fetterman never apologized for it.”
A RealClearPolitics polling average has Fetterman up by 1.2 percentage points.
The Muhlenberg College/Morning Call poll also found Democratic gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro polling 14 points ahead of his Republican opponent Doug Mastriano. Fifty-four percent of likely voters said they’d support Shapiro, while just 40 percent said they’d support Mastriano.
Forty-eight percent of likely voters in Pennsylvania said they’d support the Republican running for Congress in their own district, while 43 percent said they’d vote for a Democrat. Seven percent of voters said they still aren’t sure.