SCRANTON, Pa. — Pennsylvania voters go to the polls Tuesday after a dramatic and unpredictable primary delivered one more day of twists and questions, with one front-runner hospitalized, a surging candidate facing new questions, and a cliff-hanger finish looming in the Republican Senate race.
Much of Monday — like the rest of the final week of the campaign — centered on the surprising rise of GOP Senate candidate Kathy Barnette, who faced new questions about participating in the march that preceded the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, her Islamophobic tweets, and a suggestion that if she loses, she won’t support either of her top Republican rivals, Mehmet Oz and David McCormick.
Most polls have shown Oz, the celebrity surgeon known as “Dr. Oz,” clinging to a relatively narrow lead in the GOP Senate primary, with all three in a close grouping at the top of a race that will decide the party’s nominee in one of the country’s most critical contests. Jeff Bartos and Carla Sands trailed the top three by a distance. Former President Donald Trump leaned into his support for Oz on Monday, recording a robocall for him and calling into Oz’s closing campaign event.
