Poll shows Corbett with 15-point lead over Onorato

State Attorney General Tom Corbett, the Republican nominee for governor, holds a 15-point lead among likely voters in the Nov. 2 general election, according to a new Quinnipiac University Poll.

That wasn't the only good news for Corbett yesterday in his race against Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato, the Democratic nominee.

Campaign-finance reports filed yesterday showed Corbett with a more than two-to-one advantage over Onorato in contributions.

The poll of 684 likely voters, conducted Sept. 15-19, showed Corbett leading Onorato 54-39 percent with 7 percent undecided. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 3.8 percent.

Peter Brown, Quinnipiac's assistant director, said Corbett's support was fueled by a strong showing among independent voters. Corbett led Onorato 56-29 percent among independent voters with 13 percent undecided.

Onorato's campaign touted his increase in support among Democratic voters from a July poll while also criticizing how Quinnipiac conducted the new poll.

Onorato spokesman Brian Herman noted that Democrats in Pennsylvania have a 1.2 million voter-registration advantage while questioning how Quinnipiac could have reached the conclusions in its new poll.

"I know that just looking at registration in Pennsylvania, there has to be some kind of extreme situation for turnout like that to happen," Herman said of the Republican support for Corbett.

That's exactly right, said Brown, who noted that the state is affected by the same political forces sweeping the nation.

"Pennsylvania is not an island," Brown said. "There is a national wave going on."

Brown added that the poll measures which political party has the most enthusiastic voters likely to vote. The poll gives that edge clearly to Corbett and the Republicans.

Corbett spokesman Kevin Harley said Onorato did not complain when a Quinnipiac Poll of registered voters in July showed Corbett with a 7-point lead. "They're only complaining because it's now 15 points," Harley added.

Corbett's campaign report shows that he raised $6.1 million from June 8 to Sept. 13 and had $7.7 million in the bank as of Sept. 13.

Onorato raised $4.1 million in the same period and had $3.4 million in the bank on Sept. 13.

Corbett's camp said he raised an additional $1 million from Sept. 14 to Monday. Onorato's camp said he raised an additional $128,852 during that week.