Biden ahead of Trump by double digits in key state of Pennsylvania, poll finds
Former Vice President Joe Biden, who is leading the pack of 2020 Democratic presidential candidates, has been buoyed by a message that he is the candidate best able to defeat President Donald Trump in a general election, and a new poll lends additional weight to that assumption.
Biden leads Trump 53% to 42% in the key state of Pennsylvania among registered voters, according to a poll released Wednesday by Quinnipiac University.
Women favored Biden 60% to 36%, while men narrowly broke for Trump 45% to 49%. Biden led every age group (although he was only favored by two percentage points among those ages 50-64). He was narrowly the choice of white voters (49% to 45%) and the overwhelming favorite among non-whites (70 to 27%).
Trump had a strong lead among white men (54% to 41%) and whites without a college degree (56% to 38%).
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Perhaps most importantly in the politically divided state, Biden led Trump by 14 percentage points among independent voters.
But Biden was not the only Democratic candidate who was favored by registered Pennsylvania voters. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders led the president 50% to 43%, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren led him 47% to 44% and South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg led Trump by one percentage point, 45% to 44%.
The poll found California Sen. Kamala Harris tied with Trump at 45% and former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke losing to him, 46% to 44%.
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Overall, Trump's job approval rating among Pennsylvania voters was 42% while 54% disapproved of the job he's done as president. That was despite 54% of the respondents believing they are better off financially today than they were in 2016. Seventy-one percent of the respondents rated the state's economy as "excellent" or "good," and 77% said their own financial situation was "excellent" or "good."
"More than half of Pennsylvania voters say they are better off financially than they were in 2016. But the economy isn't giving President Donald Trump an edge in an early read of the very key Keystone State," said Quinnipiac University polling analyst Mary Snow.
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Pennsylvania is one of three states that voted for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012 but narrowly broke for Trump in 2016. Most analysts believe that winning back voters in those states is critical to the Democrats' hopes of preventing the president's re-election.
In the primary race, Biden was the choice of 39% of registered Democrats in the state, ahead of Sanders (13%), Harris (8%), Warren (8%), Buttigieg (6%) and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker (5%). The other candidates came in at 1% or less.
When asked which candidate they thought had the best policy ideas, the results narrowed dramatically, with 23% of Pennsylvania Democrats picking Biden while 18% said Sanders and another 18% said Warren.
But when asked which candidate had the best chance of defeating Trump, 61% said Biden.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden ahead of Trump by double digits in key state of Pennsylvania, poll finds
