Dr. Mehmet Oz, a Republican who is running to replace retiring Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) has certainly been experiencing some momentum lately, as his Democratic opponent, John Fetterman, has seen his lead in the polls shrink. The ultimate momentum has come in the past few days, with one Fox 29/Insider Advantage poll showing the candidates tied and another poll from Wick Insights even showing Dr. Oz ahead.
The poll shows Dr. Oz leading with 49.1 percent of the vote among likely voters, compared to Fetterman's 44.6 percent.
Wick Insights PA Poll:
— cinyc (@cinyc9) October 22, 2022
Oz 49.1%
Fetterman 44.6%
Someone Else 3.4%
Shapiro 48.5%
Mastriano 46.4%
Someone Else 1.8%
(1013 LV; October 8-13; MoE +/-3.1)https://t.co/tK66qwS4Kn
The poll in question was conducted October 8-13, with 1,013 likely Pennsylvania voters and a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percent, which indicates Dr. Oz's lead is beyond that margin.
FiveThirtyEight, which includes this poll, has Fetterman with a +2.6 lead. RealClearPolitics (RCP), which has not yet included the poll, has Fetterman with a +2.2 lead. RCP considers the race to be a "Toss Up," and project at this time that it will be a "GOP hold.
Cook Political Report changed the forecast of the race to the "Toss Up" column earlier this month, as Spencer covered. Decision Desk HQ, which has gone back and forth with their forecast for this race, changed it to a "Toss Up" on October 18.
Mehmet Oz has yet to lead a poll in Pennsylvania's U.S. Senate race, but Decision Desk HQ still rates the high-profile contest as a toss-up. Why? Watch our latest update video: https://t.co/VWoVvwIe0R pic.twitter.com/h8jdspkYdG
— Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) October 18, 2022
In a video posted that same Monday, Dr. Liberty Vittert pointed out that the race moved back to the "Toss Up" category because, while Dr. Oz had yet to lead in a poll at the time, "this could potentially change."
Dr. Oz is not the only Republican candidate gaining momentum who recently received a boost in the polls.
In New York's gubernatorial race, which RCP changed recently to the "Toss Up" category, a co/efficient poll shows Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) actually with a very slight lead against Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY), 45.6 percent to 45.3 percent. That poll also shows Zeldin with more support among his fellow Republicans, at 91 percent, compared to Gov. Hochul's 85 percent support among Democrats. Independents also favor Zeldin by 9 percentage points, 47 percent to 38 percent.
Both Dr. Oz and John Fetterman as well as Rep. Zeldin and Gov. Hochul will debate on Tuesday, though the Republican candidates in these races have made clear they wanted to have more debates.