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President Biden and Sen. Bob Casey were leading both of their expected opponents in a new Pennsylvania poll released Wednesday, a rare bit of good news for Democrats heading into the 2024 election.
A Quinnipiac University survey found Biden ahead 49% to 46% with Pennsylvania registered voters in a hypothetical matchup against his chief political opponent, former President Donald Trump, in a race described by the pollster as “too close to call.”
Casey, 63, is leading by an even wider 10-point margin (53%-43%) in the state against GOP challenger Dave McCormick than in October, the last month the poll was conducted by the university.
The results are the first time Keystone State voters have given the 81-year-old Democratic incumbent the edge, as his 77-year-old GOP rival was ahead by one- and two-point margins in polls the previous year.
However, Biden’s approval rating is still underwater in Pennsylvania, with 40% approving of his job performance and 58% disapproving. Just 1% had no opinion either way.
The former president is just barely winning independent voters in the most recent survey, with 45% supporting him and 44% backing Biden, whereas Casey shored up independent votes in his race, 55% to 39%.
The Democratic senator is also registering a 51% job approval rating from his state’s voters, while only 31% disapprove and 19% did not share their opinion.
In a hypothetical five-person general election, Biden also beats Trump with 41% of the electorate voting for him, 39% voting for Trump, 11% voting for independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., 4% voting for Green Party candidate Jill Stein and 2% voting for independent candidate Cornel West.
Meanwhile, Trump retains a 47-percentage-point lead in Pennsylvania among GOP presidential primary voters, with former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in a distant second place at 14%.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is in third place with 10% support, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has 6% support and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy registers 4% support, among Pennsylvania Republican respondents.
Christie ended his 2024 campaign on Wednesday.
Biden is trouncing his opponents in the primary, with 77% support from registered Pennsylvania Democratic voters, followed by spiritual guru Marianne Williamson at 12% and Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) at 4%.
Asked about the most critical issues facing the country, 24% of Pennsylvania voters said preserving democracy, 23% said border security and 15% said the economy.
By party affiliation, a plurality of Republicans (46%) said border security was their top issue and then the economy (25%), whereas 44% of Democrats said preserving democracy and no other issue broke into the double digits.
Independent voters weighted each party’s top issue equally, with 22% responding that preserving democracy was important and 22% saying that border security was important.
Two-thirds of Keystone State voters (66%) described their economy as “not so good” or “poor,” and a plurality (44%) said it was “getting worse.”
Most voters (64%), however, said their own financial situation was “excellent” or “good,” but a slightly lower 61% of respondents said “their income is not keeping up with the cost of living.”
But 84% of Pennsylvania voters responded that illegal immigration into the US was a “very serious” or “somewhat serious” problem, and 79% believed congressional Democrats should reach a compromise with Republicans on the issue.
Sixty-three percent of voters surveyed by Quinnipiac also said GOP lawmakers should compromise with their Democratic colleagues to reach an agreement on border security.
The university poll was conducted from Jan. 4 to 8 and surveyed 1,680 Pennsylvania voters with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.4 percentage points.
More self-identified registered Democrats (746) than Republicans (651) were represented in the poll.
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