PHILADELPHIA — Maybe money really can’t buy everything.
Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate Kathy Barnette now appears to be running neck-and-neck with the two big-spending front-runners, Mehmet Oz and David McCormick, just days before the May 17 primary, according to a new poll.
Barnette, a conservative commentator who has run a tireless campaign on a shoestring budget, had the support of 23.2% of likely GOP voters in the survey released late Sunday by the Republican Trafalgar Group. That put her right alongside Oz (24.5%) and McCormick (21.6%). Factoring in a margin of error of 3 percentage points, the poll suggests the candidates are effectively tied.
The results are similar to a Trafalgar poll in April, adding to the the evidence that Barnette has emerged as the likely alternative to her ultra-wealthy rivals Oz and McCormick. Despite each of them spending more than $11 million apiece from their own pockets, neither has been able to run away with the race.