Quinnipiac poll reports Biden leading Trump by 8 points in Pennsylvania

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is ahead of President Trump by 8 percentage points among likely voters in the key battleground of Pennsylvania, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday. 

The poll found Biden had 51 percent support while Trump gained backing from 43 percent. 

Five percent of voters surveyed in the state said they are still undecided. 

Biden’s lead in Pennsylvania has diminished since Quinnipiac’s Oct. 7 poll in the state – taken after the first presidential debate and Trump’s coronavirus diagnosis – which found Biden 13 percentage points ahead of Trump at 54 to 41. 

Instead, Wednesday’s poll more closely matches the 8 point margin reported in the state in Quinnipiac’s Sept. 3 poll, which placed Biden at 52 percent and Trump at 44 percent among likely voters. 

Quinnipiac also reported on Wednesday that Biden had a net-positive favorability rating, with 50 percent of those polled saying they have favorable views of the former vice president, compared to 44 percent who did not. Trump, on the other hand, received a net-negative favorability rating at 43 percent to 54 percent. 

Wednesday’s poll also found Biden supporter are more likely to vote by mail in Pennsylvania. Seventy-nine percent of those planning to vote by mail are Biden supporters while 13 percent of those using mail ballots are backing Trump. 

Pennsylvania voters who favor Trump, on the other hand, are expected to vote in person on Election Day at a higher rate than Biden supporters, 63 percent to 32 percent. 

The poll also reported that 51 percent of those surveyed believe Biden has positive leadership qualities, compared to 56 percent who believe Trump does not have these traits. 

Additionally, 60 percent indicated that they believe Biden cares about average Americans, while 53 percent said Trump does not. 

The poll has a 2.8 percentage point margin of error and surveyed 1,200 Pennsylvania voters surveyed from Oct. 16 to 19.

The results come the same day a USA Today-Suffolk University poll found that Biden leads Trump in the Keystone State 49 percent to 42 percent, with 4 percent of likely voters saying they were undecided. 

Both campaigns are focusing their efforts on Pennsylvania and other key swing states in the final two weeks before Election Day, with Trump holding a campaign rally Tuesday night in Erie, Pa., and former President Obama scheduled to hold his first in-person rally in support of Biden Wednesday in Philadelphia.

In 2016, Trump won Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes by less than one percentage point over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.