Dems Spooked in PA as Latest Emerson Poll Shows Closer Race: Latest Odds

An Emerson Poll shows both the Governor and Senate races in Pennsylvania within the margin of error.

The tigher races have Democrat John Fetterman four points up from Republican Mehmet Oz in the Senate race.  Fetterman is the -550 favorite still at BetOnline.

Fetterman was up 48% compared to 44% for Oz in the race for US Senate, according to the Emerson Poll.

Attorney General Josh Shapiro leads State Senator Doug Mastriano 47% to 44% in this same poll.  Shapiro is a -450 favorite.

Both Fetterman and Shapiro have had strong leads over their respective opponents up until now.

Just last week, a GOP-firm, Public Opinion Strategies, in partnership with the business-union alliance Pittsburgh Works Together, had Shapiro with 50% support to Mastriano’s 35% with 15% still undecided.

A new Franklin & Marshall College poll continues to show the Democrats with double-digit leads over their Republican rivals.

Fetterman, 53, has returned to the campaign trail after suffering a stroke back in May.

Oz came under fire this week for tweeting out that Fetterman might not have suffered a stroke had he eaten his veggies.  Over 100 doctors have condemned the Oz comments per a published statement submitted by Real Doctors Against Oz.

“I had a stroke. I survived it,” Fetterman said. “I know politics can be nasty, but even then, I could never imagine ridiculing someone for their health challenges.”

Fetterman rallied with steelworkers this week in Pittsburgh.  While mostly staying on message, the Democrat sometimes had to reach for his words. That is something he has acknowledged is an after-effect of the stroke.

The Democrat’s campaign entered July with nearly $5.5 million to Oz’s $1.1 million.

In the campaign for Governor, Mastriano made a stop at Gatsby's Bar and Grill in Aston, Delaware County on Wednesday where he emphasized production of energy among his main talking points.

"On day one we're going to roll back the regional greenhouse gas initiative. It's done. We're going to drive down the costs across the state," he said. "We are going to drill and dig like there's no tomorrow."

Mastriano also spoke in support of restricting transgender women from competing in women's sports.

Shapiro last week held a rally with SEIU workers where he told the union workers that the November general election is against “right vs. wrong,” noting that Mastriano is intent on making Pennsylvania a “right to work” state.

“We know that this legislature could put a bill on the desk of the next governor to ban unions to make this a right to work state,” Shapiro said. “Here’s what I know to be true. He’ll sign that bill into law. I’ll veto it, and I’ll always protect the union way of life here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”

He says he’ll continue fighting for unions if he gains the seat in Harrisburg.

“But we’re going to take it a step further, because when I’m your governor, we’re going to make sure every single Pennsylvanian who wants to join a union will have the right to join a union when I’m governor,” Shapiro said.

BetOnline has live odds on all Governor and Senate races here.

- Gilbert Horowitz, Gambling911.com