John Fetterman’s chances of beating Dr. Oz as poll hints at large swing

Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate race is firmly in play as Democrat John Fetterman’s once-significant lead over his rival Dr. Mehmet Oz has been slashed to a few points on average and one poll now indicating a large swing towards the Republican.

Recent polls have shown a narrowing between Fetterman and Oz in recent weeks and one survey giving the Republican a notable lead for what it believed to be the first time in the ill-tempered race.

Fetterman had opened up a double-digit lead over Oz in the summer, but a strong nationwide trend toward Republicans appeared to have dented the Lieutenant Governor’s Senate hopes.

University College London Political Science Associate Professor Thomas Gift noted while Republicans had been given a nationwide boost, Fetterman had also fallen victim to effective campaigning by Oz’s team.

He told Newsweek: “A number of factors are likely contributing to Oz gaining ground – and potentially even eclipsing – Fetterman in Pennsylvania’s Senate race.

“In recent weeks, polls have been trending toward Republicans nationally, as Democrats continue to struggle in finding an antidote to the inflation problem. So Oz is likely benefiting from broader momentum in his party’s favor.”

He continued: “But in Pennsylvania specifically, Fetterman has proven to be a seriously flawed candidate, with Oz effectively painting him as ‘far-left’ and ‘outside-the-mainstream’ on a number of issues, but particularly crime.

“Pennsylvanians have been blasted with ad after ad portraying Fetterman as [a] poster child for the extreme progressive wing of the Democratic Party. Fair or not, Fetterman has had a hard time combatting the perception that he’s hardline partisan.

“Combined with Fetterman’s health challenges, and his reluctance to agree to a debate, it’s given Oz the opportunity to erase what was once a significant deficit.”

The two most recent polls by Echelon Insights and Insider Advantage gave Fetterman a three and one-point lead over Dr. Oz respectively.

But a Wick poll carried out between October 8 through 13 shows Dr. Oz taking 49 percent to Fetterman’s 45 percent.

While polling aggregator FiveThirtyEight does note Wick has a provisional rating due to a “relatively small number of polls” it noted the pollster has correctly called 71 percent of the races it has analyzed.

Newsweek has contacted Fetterman and Oz’s teams for comment.

The Senate race in Pennsylvania has proved to be a ill-tempered battle between Fetterman and Oz with both candidates exchanging bitter comments about the other.

Oz has openly questioned Fetterman’s ability to serve after he suffered a stroke in May, while the Democrat has targeted his rival’s longtime residence in New Jersey.

Fetterman also branded Oz “sick” after a report emerged that said he had supervised experiments where 300 dogs and other animals died. Oz has denied being involved in the dogs’ deaths.

Political experts have since described the race as “juvenile” and a clear example of the “erosion of norms” in U.S. politics.

Gift recently told Newsweek: “You’d be hard pressed to find any midterm race in the country that’s more juvenile than Pennsylvania’s contest between John Fetterman and Dr. Oz—and that’s saying something.”