Fetterman climbs past 50 percent in Pennsylvania primary: poll

Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D) has surged to majority support in the Democratic Senate primary, according to a new Franklin & Marshall College poll released Thursday. 

The poll found Fetterman with 53 percent support among the field, far ahead of Rep. Conor Lamb (D) at 14 percent. 

Fetterman is leading with all factions of the party, but 51 percent said they could still change their mind on a candidate before voting. 

Lamb is struggling to overcome Fetterman’s wide name recognition, as 39 percent say they don’t know enough about Lamb to have an opinion on him compared to 21 believing the same about Fetterman.

Fetterman also has a 67 percent favorability rating compared to Lamb’s 46 percent rating. 

The gap in support between Fetterman and Lamb has widened since the college did a similar poll in April. 

In April, Fetterman had 41 percent support, while Lamb was at 17 percent. 

Fetterman’s wide lead comes as opponents try to paint him as a far-left progressive similar to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

Fetterman’s more progressive tendencies than Lamb have concerned some Democrats that he wouldn’t be able to flip the Senate seat being vacated by Republican Sen. Pat Toomey.

“The ability of a progressive Democrat to flip a Republican Senate seat to a Democratic Senate seat, historically that’s a very difficult thing to overcome,” said Christina Proctor, who chairs the Democratic Party in Washington County, Pa.

“It’s much more likely that we will switch from a Republican Senate seat to a moderate Democrat. In my mind, it makes more logical sense for Democrats to choose the moderate candidate,” she said. 

The primary will take place on May 17.

The Cook Political Report labels the seat as a toss-up. Toomey retained the seat in 2016 by just 1.5 points over challenger Katie McGinty.