(WHTM) — Democrat John Fetterman currently holds an advantage over Republican Mehmet Oz in the race for Pennsylvania’s soon-to-be-open U.S. Senate seat, according to a recently released Franklin & Marshall poll.

In the poll, Fetterman leads Oz 43% to 30%. He also has received a larger share of Democratic support (76%) than Oz has received amongst Republicans (62%). The poll also found that Fetterman leads among Independent voters, 34% to 17%.

When it comes to which candidate better understands the concerns of Pennsylvanians and is closer to their views on social issues, 52% of voters believe Fetterman is their guy, and 28% lean towards Oz.

Oz’s residency — which was most recently listed as being in New Jersey — has been a big topic of conversation on the campaign trail for both voters and Fetterman. Recently, Fetterman rolled out an online petition to get Oz enshrined in New Jersey’s Hall of Fame. He also spent $2,000 for an airplane to haul a banner over beachgoers on the Jersey Shore to welcome Oz back home.

Most recently, Fetterman says his campaign raised more than half a million dollars after an ad from Oz went viral on social media. In the video, Oz mispronounces the name of a grocery store and says that the cost of “crudite” has skyrocketed.

Fetterman retweeted the video, stating: “In PA we call this a… veggie tray.” But Oz’s residency is not the only issue voters are concerned about. In fact, 27% of voters believe the economy is the most important problem facing Pennsylvania, and they are not sure if either candidate will improve their economic circumstances.

Only 37% of voters think Fetterman will have policies that will improve their economic circumstances and 33% believe Oz will have such policies.

Overall, Pennsylvania voters remain pessimistic about conditions in the state with only 1 in 4 registered voters thinking the state is “headed in the right direction.”

Fetterman and Oz are racing to the finish line to win the seat that Republican Pat Toomey is leaving open. The general election is on Nov. 8.

Methodology

The survey findings presented in this release are based on the results of interviews conducted Aug. 15-21, 2022. The interviews were conducted at the Center for Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall. The data included in this release represent the responses of 522 registered Pennsylvania voters, including 234 Democrats, 214 Republicans, and 74 independents.

The sample of voters was obtained from Marketing Systems Group. All sampled respondents were notified by mail about the survey. Interviews were completed over the phone and online depending on each respondent’s preference. Survey results were weighted (age, gender, education, geography, and party registration) using an iterative weighting algorithm to reflect the known distribution of those characteristics. Estimates for age, geography, and party registration are based on active voters within the Pennsylvania Department of State’s voter registration data. Gender and education are estimated using data from the November 2018 CPS Voter Registration Supplement.

The sample error for this survey is +/- 5.3 percentage points when the design effects from weighting are considered. In addition to sampling error, this poll is also subject to other sources of non-sampling error. Generally speaking, two sources of error concern researchers most. Non-response bias is created when selected participants either choose not to participate in the survey or are unavailable for an interview. Response errors are the product of the question-and-answer process. Surveys that rely on self-reported behaviors and attitudes are susceptible to biases related to the way respondents process and respond to survey questions.