Clinton leads Sanders in state poll
Hillary Clinton enjoys a comfortable lead over U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders among Pennsylvania Democrats, while Joe Sestak has a slim lead over Katie McGinty in the primary race for U.S. Senate, according to a poll released Wednesday.
Harrisburg-based Harper Polling surveyed 640 likely Democratic primary voters last week and found that 56 percent are backing Clinton, a former U.S. secretary of state, First Lady and U.S. senator from New York, while Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist from Vermont, is supported by 28 percent and just 4 percent are backing former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley.
The poll’s margin of error is 3.8 percent.
Harper reported that Clinton easily leads Sanders among moderate and “somewhat” liberal Democrats. Although she also leads among very liberal Democrats, Harper said it is only 49 percent to 45 percent.
Clinton leads Sanders in all regions of the state with her most comfortable positions in Pittsburgh (55 percent to 29 percent) and Philadelphia (64 percent to 25 percent). Also, Clinton has the support of 66 percent of female Democrats compared to just 43 percent of male Democrats.
Sanders has seemingly captured the attention of younger voters across the country, but he only leads Clinton 41 percent to 40 percent among 18 to 39 year olds in Pennsylvania while he trails in all other age groups.
The Democratic primary race to decide who challenges U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Zionsville, Lehigh County, in the fall has tightened, Harper found.
Sestak, a retired admiral and former U.S. House member who lost 51 percent to 49 percent to Toomey in 2010, received 33 percent in the Harper poll while McGinty, a former secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and former chief of staff to Gov. Tom Wolf, received 28 percent and Braddock Mayor John Fetterman garnered 11 percent.
In Harper’s last poll of the primary in September, Sestak had 40 percent and McGinty had 30 percent, but that was conducted before Fetterman entered the race later that month.
Sestak has a 54 percent favorable rating compared to McGinty’s 49 percent and Fetterman’s 27 percent. However, the Braddock mayor has some room for improvement because 53 percent said they were not sure when asked their opinion about him.
Among state officials, Wolf has a 78 percent favorable rating among Democrats although 51 percent said Pennsylvania is on the “wrong track.” Embattled Attorney General Kathleen Kane, who is fighting an indictment related to grand jury leaks and ignoring calls for her resignation, has a 49 percent unfavorable rating and just a 43 percent favorable rating.
Notably, though, Kane pulled 31 percent of the vote when she was included in a poll of several attorney general Democratic candidates with Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala a distant second at 18 percent and 30 percent undecided.