With two weeks to go before Pennsylvania Republicans choose a nominee for the seat of retiring GOP Sen. Pat Toomey, celebrity Dr. Mehmet Oz clings to a slight lead in the latest poll.
But the Monmouth University Poll also showed that, among likely Republican voters, the seven-candidate Senate contest has boiled down to three major contenders—Oz (20 percent), hedge fund billionaire David McCormick (16 percent), and TV commentator Kathy Barnette (12 percent).
Virtually all Republican sources in the Keystone State who spoke to Newsmax agreed that Oz’s strong endorsement by Donald Trump was pivotal to his front-runner status.
Trump will be in Western Pennsylvania Friday for a rally and hoped-for a last-minute boost for Oz.
But the same sources also agreed that the contest is still very competitive and even up in the proverbial air.
“The negative attack ads by Super PACs supporting David McCormick seem not to be harming Oz as much as might normally be expected, largely due to the fact voters have been familiar with him for many years from his regular TV appearances,” Lowman Henry of the conservative Lincoln Institute told us.
Henry also noted that “Kathy Barnette appears to be benefitting from the shooting war between Oz and McCormick, but she is going to need a significant paid media presence over the last week to 10 days to surge ahead.”
In contrast, Democrats appear to be settling on progressive Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman as their standard-bearer for Senate. According to Monmouth, Fetterman leads the Democratic field with 44 percent, followed by centrist Rep. Conor Lamb at 23 percent, and far-left State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta with 14 percent.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.