Caitlin Sinclair – NY Political Correspondent
UPDATED 12:32 PM PT – Thursday, October 20, 2022
Republican Mehmet Oz is projected to win his Pennsylvania U.S. Senate race against Democrat Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, according to Real Clear Politics.
Oz, who has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump, will win Pennsylvania by 2.7% of the vote, Real Clear Politics (RCP) showed Thursday.
This new polling comes as, Democratic Pennsylvania Senate candidate, John Fetterman, struggled to speak clearly two a reporter in a recent interview just months after suffering a stroke — and one weeks before a scheduled debate with Dr. Mehmet Oz.
Fetterman granted Dasha Burns of NBC News his first sit-down interview since his May medical episode, which forced him into a months-long absence from the campaign trail.
“We had a monitor set up so that he could read my questions,” Burns said, “because he still has lingering auditory processing issues as a result of the stroke, which means he has a hard time understanding what he’s hearing.”
The recent Real Clear politics-produced average of recent polls puts Fetterman ahead by 3.2 percentage points. However, the RCP polling averages for past elections have understated Republican support by a mean of 5.2 points.
Therefore, going based on the past averages of undercounting of Republican support, RCP forecasts an Oz victory in the key battleground state.
Oz has blasted Fetterman for dodging debates and has accused him of “hiding” from voters after his stroke. The two campaigns have agreed to hold one debate on Oct. 25.