Poll: GOP candidates lead in top Pa. races

With five weeks until polls open, Republican candidates for governor and senator lead their respective races in Pennsylvania, according to a poll of registered voters released today by Suffolk University.

Attorney General Tom Corbett, the Republican, leads his Democratic rival Dan Onorato 47 percent to 40 percent in the contest for governor, the poll finds. In the race for U.S. Senate, Republican Pat Toomey holds a 45 percent to 40 percent lead over Democratic Rep. Joe Sestak.

The GOP leads in Suffolk's poll are narrower than in some recent surveys by other universities and independent entities.

Voters screened as most likely to go to the polls Nov. 2 generally tend to favor the Republicans by wider margins.

"With the number of undecided voters shrinking, both Democrats need to shake things up," said David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center in Boston. "Clearly, the challenge for both Onorato and Sestak is to disconnect themselves with the policies of Democratic incumbents."

In the Democratic Senate primary, Suffolk turned out to be the most accurate survey, giving Sestak a nine-point lead over Sen. Arlen Specter (D., Pa.). Sestak won by eight percentage points.

President Obama's approval rating in the poll stands at 41 percent, to 51 percent disapproval in Pennsylvania.

Only 10 percent of those surveyed indicated they thought the recession had ended, while 83 percent said it continues. When voters were asked if the job situation will improve in the next six months, only 29 percent indicated yes, while 59 percent said no.

Results are based on telephone interviews with 500 registered Pennsylvania voters between Sept. 24 and Sept. 27. Results are subject to a margin of error of plus-or-minus 5.5 percentage points.