Tom Wolf, the Democratic challenger for governor in Pennsylvania, leads Republican Gov. Tom Corbett 55 – 38 percent among likely voters four weeks before Election Day, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday.
This compares to a 59 – 35 percent likely voter lead for Wolf in a September 11 survey by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University.
In these new results, Wolf leads 59 – 34 percent among women, 51 – 42 percent among men, 87 – 7 percent among Democrats and 49 – 40 percent among independent voters.
Republicans back Corbett 75 – 22 percent, one of the lowest rates of same-party support for an incumbent governor in any of the nine states surveyed by Quinnipiac University. This compares to a 66 – 28 percent Corbett lead among Republicans September 11.
Their mind is made up, 85 percent of Pennsylvania likely voters say, while 13 percent say they might change their mind. There is little difference among supporters for each candidate: 87 percent of Wolf supporters and 83 percent of Corbett backers say their mind is made up.
“With a slight shift in the numbers as a handful of Republicans come back, there is a pinprick of light at the end of the long, dark reelection tunnel, but time is not on Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett’s side,” said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.
“It’s a matter of simple math and the ticking clock and both are working against Gov. Corbett.”
By a 52 – 26 percent margin, Pennsylvania likely voters have a favorable opinion of Wolf. He gets positive scores from all listed groups except Republicans who are negative 27 – 47 percent, with 23 percent who don’t know enough about him to form an opinion.
Corbett gets a negative 38 – 49 percent favorability rating, with Republicans the only positive group listed, giving him a 67 – 24 percent favorability. Men are close as 42 percent are favorable and 47 percent are unfavorable.
From September 30 – October 5, Quinnipiac University surveyed 907 likely voters with a margin of error of +/- 3.3 percentage points. Live interviewers call land lines and cell phones.
A copy of the detailed poll results is available online.
