A new poll shows Dr. Mehmet Oz and David McCormick are running neck-and-neck in Pennsylvania's GOP Senate primary, just as former President Trump is set to take the stage in Greensburg for Oz on Friday.
Dr. Oz, a celebrity surgeon, and McCormick, an investment consultant with ties to the Trump world, are running at the top of a crowded field, with Oz slightly ahead 18 percent to 16 percent, according to a Franklin and Marshall College poll released Thursday.
The two will face off in a May 17 primary, along with Kathy Barnette, trailing in third place at 12 percent and Carla Sands at 5 percent, though 39 percent of voters remain undecided on who they'll vote for.
According to the poll, Trump's endorsement did little to boost Oz, who led McCormick just before winning Trump's favor 16 percent to 15 percent in another Franklin and Marshall poll.
A new poll shows Dr. Oz, above, just two points ahead of his rival
Hedge fund executive David McCormick, above, lost out to Oz on the Trump endorsement, but has support from within Trump's orbit, including from Sen. Ted Cruz
The power of Trump's endorsement will be closely watched in races such as these in the lead-up to 2024 as the former president tests the waters before potentially launching his own campaign.
On Tuesday Hillbilly Elegy author JD Vance won the Ohio GOP Senate primary after the former president threw his weight behind him. Vance will also appear at the Pennsylvania rally on Saturday, along with Trump-endorsed PA candidates Rep. John Joyce, Rep. Mike Kelly, Jim Bognet and Rep. Alex Mooney, who is from a nearby West Virginia district.
Trump's last-minute endorsement of Vance supercharged him from the middle of the pack to a 9-point victory on Tuesday.
Trump is headed to Greensburg, Pa. on Friday to rally for Oz
But in Pennsylvania, Oz's opponent McCormick has his own ties to Trump world as well - his domestic policy adviser and speechwriter Stephen Miller and longtime communications aide and counselor Hope Hicks had both been working on McCormick's campaign (Miller dropped McCormick when Trump went for Oz).
McCormick is also married to Trump's former deputy national security adviser, Dina Powell, and had the backing former Trump campaign adviser David Urban and press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who is
