Hours before Hillary Clinton was set to accept the Democratic nomination in a primetime speech Thursday evening in Philadelphia, a new poll of Pennsylvania voters shows her holding a comfortable nine-point lead over Republican rival Donald Trump. The Suffolk University poll shows Mrs. Clinton polling ahead of Mr. Trump 50% to 41% in a two- way matchup, with eight percent still undecided. The finding echoes a Wall Street Journal/NBC News/Marist poll taken earlier in July, when Mrs. Clinton was also shown leading Mr. Trump by nine points. In the Real Clear Politics average of recent polls, Mrs. Clinton was ahead by 4.4 points.
Pennsylvania has voted for the Democratic nominee in the past six presidential contests, beginning with Mrs. Clinton’s husband Bill in 1992. But this year, Mr. Trump has suggested the state might fall into his column due to its large white, working-class population. Mr. Trump would likely need to win Pennsylvania, along with several other rust-belt states with similar demographic profiles, to capture the presidency. In some national polls, Mr. Trump has edged ahead of Mrs. Clinton, enjoying a bump from his own convention last week.
In a Wall Street Journal lunch this week in Philadelphia, Clinton campaign manager Robbie Mook identified Pennsylvania alongside North Carolina and Florida as key battlegrounds in the election.
In a four-way contest, Mrs. Clinton still leads her opponent by nine points, 46% to 37%, in the Pennsylvania poll. In that scenario, 5% of respondents picked libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, and another 3% siding with Green Party standard-barer Jill Stein.
The poll also found that the state holds a generally positive view of Barack Obama, with his favorability rating at 52%. Mrs. Clinton’s favorability sits at 44%, though the numbers suggest she could benefit from Mr. Obama’s popularity by embracing him – as she literally did Wednesday night when the two hugged following Mr. Obama’s speech to the Democratic convention.
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