Sen. Bob Casey Jr. is still the favorite to keep his U.S. Senate seat in the latest Emerson College/The Hill survey of 1,000 Keystone State registered voters.

Emerson conducted its poll from Feb. 14-16 and its results showed the incumbent Democrat receiving 49 percent support to 39 percent for the Republican challenger with 13% indicating that they were unsure.

Among independents, Casey showed even greater strength, pulling in 48 percent to McCormick’s 27 with 1 in 4 still undecided.

The Scranton native earned 83 percent support from those who felt the country is moving the right direction, while those that felt opposite gave McCormick 61 percent backing.

Casey is viewed favorably by half of the respondents (50%), while 42% think differently. McCormick, the former CEO of the Bridgewater Associates hedge fund, has 38-32 numbers, while 3 in 10 said they had never heard of him.

President

The Emerson College/The Hill survey also found the race for the White House between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump is within the margin of error. The 45th president has 45 percent support, while the 46th received the backing of 43 percent of the respondents with 12 percent undecided.

Since the group’s last poll, support for Trump has decreased by three points from 48-45%, while Biden’s support has risen by a couple of digits from 41 to 43%.

“Pennsylvania independent voters break for Biden over Trump 41% to 35%,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said. “There is also a gender divide: men break for Trump over Biden 50% to 41% while women break slightly for Biden over Trump, 44% to 42%.”

In a matchup that includes current independent candidates, Biden dropped six points from 43 to 37%, while Trump fell three from 45 to 42%. Robert Kennedy Jr. took eight of the nine points, while Cornel West (2%) and Jill Stein (1%) also captured some interest.

The questions of age and indictments also raised doubts with both major party candidates. Sixty-four percent of Pennsylvania voters were concerned about Biden’s age, while 57% had concerns raised about Trump’s legal woes.

“Independent voters are more concerned about Trump’s indictments than Biden’s age: 61% of independents say Trump’s indictments raise serious concerns while 53% of independents find Biden’s age to raise serious concerns about voting for the president in 2024,” Kimball noted.

Elsewhere

Nearly half of those surveyed (49%) believe the state is on the wrong track, while more than 1 in 3 (35%) say things are moving in the right direction.

Two in five (40%) said the economy is their top issue, while healthcare and immigration each polled at 11%, followed by threats to democracy at 10%.

Gov. Josh Shapiro still retains strong favorability numbers with the former PA Attorney General polling at 59%.

According to the survey, you either love or hate Sen. John Fetterman who polls at 46% favorable and 48% unfavorable.