With just over a week to go before Pennsylvania's marquee Senate primaries on May 17, Democrats appear poised to nominate the state's lieutenant governor, John Fetterman, to be their party's nominee.
Fetterman has a lead over his closest challenger of 14% according to the most recent survey conducted by Franklin & Marshall College. State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta received 4% of the vote, while Jenkintown councilwoman Alex Khalil received 1% of the vote.
While Fetterman has a significant advantage in most major polling, 22% of Democratic voters remain undecided in the Franklin & Marshall survey, and 51% of respondents who had a preferred candidate indicated that they could change their minds before the primary date.
The poll was conducted from April 20 to May 1.
Fetterman led Lamb by a wide margin in a Franklin & Marshall poll last month.
Fetterman, the former mayor of the borough of Braddock who has made his focus on working-class voters the centerpiece of his campaign, has been seen as the leader in the race. One of the best Democratic Senate pickup opportunities in the country this fall is being represented by Lamb, a moderate lawmaker who represents a swath of southwestern Pennsylvania anchored in the Pittsburgh suburbs, and Kenyatta, a Philadelphia native who has also focused on kitchen-table issues.
The race among Republicans is much more fractured, with Oz at 18% and McCormick at 16%, followed by conservative commentator Kathy Barnette at 12%, and real estate developer Jeff Bartos at 2%.
Oz was endorsed by Donald Trump in April, but the show of support has so far not moved a lot of voters. In recent weeks, McCormick has been trying to make himself out to be the more reliable Make America Great Again ally in the race, and he has continued to hammer Oz on his conservative credentials.
The cardiothoracic surgeon received a chilly reception from many of the attendees at the rally, as Insider reported.
A whopping 39% of the GOP electorate is undecided, and more than 50% of those who expressed support for a candidate said they could change their minds in the coming days.
Barnette saw an increase in support when she sat at 7%.
The responses from Republicans were included in the most recent poll.
Republicans are hoping to hold on to the seat being left by Pat Toomey in what is expected to be a very favorable political climate for the party this November.
President Joe Biden won Pennsylvania in 2020 by 1%, while President Donald Trump won the state by less than 1% against Hillary Clinton.
Tom Wolf is term-limited and cannot seek reelection, so there will be an open race for governor.
With the leak of the Supreme Court draft opinion that could potentially topple the law, abortion is certain to play a major role in federal and state races in Pennsylvania this year.
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