A new poll shows the GOP primary race for U.S. Senate from Pennsylvania continues to be tight, but with Kathy Barnette now inching ahead of David McCormick to reach second place behind Mehmet Oz.
Barnette, an army veteran and political commentator, is polling at 23.2 percent. Oz, the celebrity surgeon, received 24.5 percent and former hedge-fund executive McCormick got 21.6 percent.
The Trafalgar Group, a Republican-aligned firm, surveyed 1,080 likely GOP primary voters from the Keystone State from May 6 to May 8. The group found real-estate developer Jeff Bartos, former Ambassador Carla Sands, attorney Sean Gale and attorney George Bochetto are all polling in the single digits, while 15.1 percent were undecided.
Barnette took to Twitter amidst the news of the poll vaunting her campaign’s momentum and noting she achieved it with a tiny fraction of the financial war chests that either Oz or McCormick can boast.
“Mehmet and Dave have spent over $60 million attacking each other and promoting themselves,” she wrote. “I’ve spent less than $2 million and am within 1.7% of first place – a statistical tie. Wait until you see what I’ll do to [Lt. Gov. John] Fetterman.”
Surveys of Pennsylvania’s Democratic voters have consistently shown the lieutenant governor polling ahead of U.S. Representative Conor Lamb (D-PA-17) by double-digit margins, making him the Democrat that Republican candidates largely anticipate having to best in November. State Representative Malcolm Kenyatta (D-Philadelphia) is polling at a distant third.
Oz and McCormick – and political action committees supporting their respective campaigns – have deluged Pennsylvania Republicans with advertising, much of it negative pieces about each other. Oz has weathered much scrutiny for taking liberal positions on abortion, guns, Obamacare and other issues not long before deciding to seek the Senate seat. McCormick and some security experts have also criticized Oz for having voted in the 2018 Turkish presidential election, an action that some say could jeopardize the candidate’s ability to get a security clearance once elected to the Senate.
Oz spokesperson Brittany Yanick has called the criticisms of Oz’s ties to Turkey, from where his family moved to the U.S. in the 1960s, “pathetic and xenophobic attacks” of which McCormick should be “ashamed.”
McCormick has taken equally heavy reprehension from Oz’s camp for the former’s globalist record on China as a member of the finance industry and as an erstwhile under secretary of the Treasury for international affairs under President George W. Bush.
McCormick spent several weeks polling ahead of Dr. Oz, though the heart surgeon recently broke into first place, touting the support of former President Donald Trump. This weekend, Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) weighed in on the Pennsylvania Senate race with his own video statement for Oz, saying the candidate “has my full confidence, my full support and my full endorsement.” Shortly before that, Oz received endorsements from U.S. Reps. Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA-14) and Fred Keller (R-PA-12).
Meanwhile, McCormick has been touting the endorsements of former U.S. Attorney Scott Brady, former Lt. Gov. Jim Cawley, former Trump Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin, and Pennsylvania State Senator Tommy Tomlinson (R-Bensalem).
Trafalgar’s same poll indicated State Senator Doug Mastriano (R-Gettysburg) has extended his longstanding lead in the race for Pennsylvania governor, with 27.6 percent supporting the legislator. Former congressman and former Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta received the second-most support at 17.6 percent while former Delaware County Councilman Dave White got 15.1 percent and former federal prosecutor Bill McSwain received 14.4 percent.
Pennsylvania Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman (R-Bellefonte), former Congresswoman Melissa Hart, Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Gale, and media strategist Charlie Gerow all polled in the single digits for governor. Trafalgar posits that the fraction of likely GOP voters who haven’t determined who they will vote for in that race is now relatively low at 11.3 percent.
Trafalgar’s report on its survey said 87.6 percent of participants were white, 1.1 percent were black, and 11.3 percent identified as belonging to other ethnicities. Fifty-three percent of participants were male and 47 percent were female.
Pennsylvanians will hold its 2022 primaries on May 17.
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Bradley Vasoli is managing editor of The Pennsylvania Daily Star. Follow Brad on Twitter at @BVasoli. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Kathy Barnette” by Kathy Barnette. Photo “Dr. Mehmet Oz” by Dr. Mehmet Oz. Background Photo “U.S. Capitol” by Martin Falbisoner. CC BY-SA 3.0.
