Fetterman Posts Near Double-Digit Lead Over Oz Despite Medical Issues

Democratic Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman held a huge lead over Republican Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania’s Senate race in a USA Today Network/Suffolk University poll released Wednesday.

The poll showed Fetterman led his political rival by 9 points despite the Democrat suffering a stroke in May that hospitalized him just days before the state’s primary. He has yet to return to the campaign trail and has acknowledged that he “almost died.”

Fetterman had an overall favorability rating of 45% compared to 28% for Oz, according to the poll. Half of the respondents viewed Oz unfavorably, while only 27% were unfavorable towards Fetterman.

The lieutenant governor secured the lead despite the overwhelmingly negative polling toward Democratic President Joe Biden, who currently holds an average 53.9% disapproval rating, according to FiveThirtyEight.

Over 44% of respondents in the Suffolk University poll said economic conditions in Pennsylvania are poor, with 36% saying fair and 16% saying good.

“I use the words ‘thread the needle’ because I always think of campaigns as patchwork, as a political fabrics,” Suffolk University Political Research Center Director David Paleologos told The Erie-Times News. “It’s really a fine line given Biden’s disapproval rate and the dire state of the economy.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, also beat Republican candidate Doug Mastriano in the poll. Shapiro led Mastriano by 4 points and had a favorability rating of 45%.

Paleologos noted the political environment could change drastically between now and the November general election.

“Things could get really bad. We could go to a recession or a deep recession, or from a recession to, God forbid, a depression,” he told The Erie-Times News.

Representatives for Fetterman and Oz did not immediately respond to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.