Voters in Pennsylvania are split over whether Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman’s health is good enough to represent the state effectively, according to the preliminary results of the Pennsylvania exit poll conducted for CNN and other news networks by Edison Research.
Fetterman, Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor, suffered a near-fatal stroke days before he won the May Democratic primary.
But a majority of voters said that Mehmet Oz, the Republican candidate for Senate, has not lived in the commonwealth long enough to represent it effectively. More than 4 in 10 said he had.
Oz has said he moved to Pennsylvania in late 2020 after living in New Jersey for decades.
Voters also split over which candidate’s views are too extreme with more than 4 in 10 picking Fetterman and the same share selecting Oz.
More than one-third of Pennsylvania voters said that they care most about whether a candidate shares their values and whether a candidate has honesty and integrity. About 2 in 10 said the most important quality is that a candidate cares about people like them. Fewer than one in 10 said having the right experience matters most.
Men and women who cast ballots split their support, with more than half of men voting for Oz and more than half of women voting for Fetterman. Among independent voters, who made up about a quarter of the electorate, more than half voted for Fetterman.
For voters who thought that abortion was the most important issue, more than three quarters supported Fetterman. They made up just over one-third of the electorate.
But among those who said inflation was the most pressing issue, more than three-quarters cast ballots for Oz. They made up more than a quarter of the electorate.
To read more about the exit polling data, click here.
