糖心

With fewer than two weeks before the Nov. 5 election, Republican Donald Trump and Democratic U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris are virtually tied, 50% to 49%, in Pennsylvania, according to the Franklin & Marshall Poll. This result has a margin of error plus or minus 5 percentage points.

鈥淚t鈥檚 really a toss-up and that means we don鈥檛 know who is going to win,鈥� Berwood Yost, director of the Franklin & Marshall College Poll, says.

Likely voters are registered voters who report being 鈥渃ertain鈥� to vote and being 鈥渧ery interested鈥� in the political campaign, the pollster says. It鈥檚 the closest measure to what voters are thinking.

According to this last poll of the year, Harris is favored, 48% to 44%, among all registered voters, which is within the poll鈥檚 sample error of plus or minus 4.3 percentage points. 

In the U.S. Senate race, incumbent Democratic Sen. Bob Casey leads GOP opponent Dave McCormick, 49% to 48%, among likely voters, but among all registered voters, Casey鈥檚 lead expands, 49% to 42%.

鈥淭he current electoral environment seems to offer more advantages for Republicans than Democrats,鈥� Yost says. He cited 43% of respondents who say they are 鈥渨orse off鈥� financially than a year ago.

鈥淰oters are much less optimistic about their personal financial circumstances today than they were at the time of the last presidential election in October 2020,鈥� Yost says.

For 35% of respondents, the economy -- including unemployment and higher gas and utility prices --remains the most important and often mentioned problem facing the state, Yost says,

F&M鈥檚 Center for Opinion Research conducted the poll between Oct. 9-20, recording the views of 794 registered voters鈥�351 Democrats, 326 Republicans and 118 independents.

Visit for the complete poll results and analysis of voters鈥� sentiments on the latest issues and job approval ratings of elected officials.