On Wednesday, The New York Times reported that Senator Bernie Sanders would make a stop in Pennsylvania as part of an eight-state tour to help boost “the energy level for young people, working-class people.” In the final weekend before the November 8 election, he will stop in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan.

The announcement comes amid the recent strides Fetterman’s Republican opponent Mehmet Oz has made in closing the gap between the two candidates in the hotly contested Senate race.

A new AARP poll released Tuesday showed Fetterman only slightly ahead by 2 percentage points, compared to the 6-point advantage he held over Oz in AARP’s June survey. FiveThirtyEight shows Fetterman with a 5.2-point lead, which, while larger than AARP’s forecast, is still much slimmer than the double-digit lead FiveThirtyEight had the Democrat at just a month ago.

Although it is unclear whether Fetterman would appear alongside the senator during his visit, Sanders spoke highly of the Democratic candidate over the weekend, saying on Meet the Press on Sunday that Fetterman would “be a real fighter for the working class of this country.”

“I hope very much he joins us in the United States Senate,” Sanders said.

President Joe Biden is also headed to the Keystone State this week. On Thursday, Biden is expected to fly to Pittsburgh for a speech on the nation’s infrastructure before heading to Philadelphia to meet with Fetterman.

In a Monday statement explaining why Biden would stump for the Senate hopeful, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called Fetterman an “impressive individual” who “is currently the lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, as we know, and he’s doing that with great ability and heartfelt concern for the people of the Commonwealth.”

“So yes, the president feels that he is very much capable of doing the job,” Jean-Pierre said.

Fetterman’s chances of winning had looked much more hopeful a month ago, partly due to a grim GOP outlook spurred by the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision as well as a series of attacks on Oz, who Fetterman’s campaign suggested was out of touch with Pennsylvania voters.

Recent legislative gains by the Democrats were also expected to help the party maintain a split Senate that would give them control of the chamber. But a striking poll released this week by The New York Times/Siena College showed Republicans with a sudden edge over Democrats thanks to economic worries.

Asked about the recent GOP momentum, Sanders told the Times, “It is rather amazing to me that we are in a situation right now, which I hope to change, where according to poll after poll, the American people look more favorably upon the Republicans in terms of economic issues than they do Democrats.”

“That is absurd,” Sanders said.

Despite the tough challenges ahead, the senator said that he’s hopeful the next session of Congress will have “more strong progressives in the Democratic caucus than in the modern history of this country.”

Sanders will also make stops in Oregon, California, Nevada, Texas and Florida beginning October 27.

Newsweek reached out to Sanders’ office and Fetterman’s campaign for comment.