Clinton, Trump Lead Among Pa. Voters

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are the leading presidential candidates in Pennsylvania, according to a new Franklin & Marshall poll.

Primary election day is still two months away — April 26 — but Clinton holds a sizable lead over opponent Bernie Sanders among likely voters, 51 percent to 29 percent. Trump’s margin is much lower over a still-divided Republican field: He clocks in a 21 percent of likely Republican voters, compared to 18 percent for Marco Rubio, and 16 percent each for John Kasich and Ted Cruz.

Philadelphia is proving to be bulwarks for both front-runners, according to the poll: Clinton attracts 59 percent of the metro area’s Dems, while Trump commands the support of 50 percent of area Republicans — by far his most concentrated pocket of support in the state.

The survey had an error range of plus or minus 3.1 points.

Other findings:

• Only 31 percent of respondents believe Gov. Tom Wolf is doing a “good” or “excellent job as governor — and just 45 percent of Democrats rate him so favorably. The not-bad news for Wolf? He’s in familiar territory: The pollsters said his performance ratings are similar to Gov. Ed Rendell and Tom Corbett at this point in their governorships, but lower than that of Gov. Tom Ridge.

• Just 42 percent of Pennsylvanians give President Barack Obama the “good” or “excellent” ratings; 70 percent of the state’s Democrats approve, but just nine percent of the state’s Republicans. Sixty-four percent of Philadelphians, however, gave the president top marks.

• In the Democratic senatorial primary, Joe Sestak leads with 21 percent of support, followed by Katie McGinty at 12 percent and John Fetterman at 8 percent.

• Fifty-eight percent of respondents think Attorney General Kathleen Kane should resign — up from 51 percent in October.

• Fifty-six percent strongly or somewhat favor more gun regulations; 78 percent favor strong background checks on gun buyers, including at gun shows; and 68 percent favor including information about mental health in the background check.

• Two-thirds of respondents say the state is on the wrong track. Forty-seven percent said the state’s government and politicians are the biggest problem facing the state today — up by nine points from just a month earlier, perhaps signalling voter frustration with Harrisburg’s unending budget debate. Twenty percent of respondents said personal finances and unemployment tops their list of personal challenges.

See the full poll below.