Fetterman, Oz Senate race projected to be a fight to the finish line
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - The Newtown Athletic Club is the spot where the Oz campaign will wait to hear the results tomorrow.
For him and Lt. Governor Fetterman, it is going to be a fight to the finish.
An InsiderAdvantage/FOX poll conducted on Nov. 3 has Dr. Oz leading Lt. Governor Fetterman 48% to 46% with 4% undecided.
The margin of error is 3.58%.
This poll comes after a weekend when President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama were in Pennsylvania to campaign for Fetterman.
And Republican Dr. Oz had former President Donald Trump campaign for him.
Both candidates held rallies in the Pittsburgh area – continuing to drive home a point of how important our part of the state is to the election.
Each campaign used the rallies to get their last-minute messages to voters.
Many people have made up their minds, but the candidates need their supporters to show up at the polls. This seat could determine the balance of power in the Senate.
Republicans want to keep control of the seat of retired Sen. Pat Toomey and gain control. Democrats are hoping to flip the seat and maintain the Senate.
Dr. Lew Irwin at Duquesne University said this has even more eyes on it because it's a toss-up race with no incumbent.
"The incumbents are typically very difficult to remove from office. It happens periodically, but it doesn't happen all that often. The one open seat upon which control of a 50-50 Senate might depend is here in Pennsylvania," said Dr. Irwin, a professor of public policy and American government.
With this race being so tight, it's expected it will not be one of the early races across the country where a winner is projected.
And Dr. Irwin wants people to be prepared for the race to not be called tomorrow night.
This seat holds more than just Pennsylvania interests in the balance; it could determine which party holds control of the United States Senate.
What was once projected to be an easy win for Dems is a toss-up, and that's big because it will determine whether or not the president can proceed with his agenda as planned.
According to Dr. Irwin, Pennsylvania is one of the few swing states left.
In 2020, there were 4 statewide races. Republicans won two and Democrats won two.
So, people are splitting tickets with candidates.
While the majority of people already know who they're voting for, there's a handful up for grabs, and that's why you've seen hundreds of millions of dollars in ads every way you look.
Dr. Irwin said it's been proven that these negative ads work in getting people to vote – hence why they've been blasting you for weeks.
As for finding out a result, Dr. Irwin said we may not know that tomorrow night.
There are already more than a million mail-in ballots that have to be counted, and that process can't start yet.
"The not in-person voting that's going on, mail-in ballots and such, that is at very high levels. Under Pennsylvania law, those ballots can't be counted ahead of time. We are going to have to wait some time to see how this plays out," Dr. Irwin added.
He thinks it could take a day or two to see who is projected to win.
We will follow this race throughout and bring you the latest on-air and online.
