Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

Declining Hillary Clinton approval a likely boost for Pat Toomey

WASHINGTON - Pat Toomey isn't named in the latest Quinnipiac Poll, but Pennsylvania's Republican senator probably likes it anyway. The poll, out Tuesday, showed Hillary Rodham Clinton's numbers sinking in Pennsylvania - a trend that could affect Toomey's 2016 reelection bid.

WASHINGTON - Pat Toomey isn't named in the latest Quinnipiac Poll, but Pennsylvania's Republican senator probably likes it anyway.

The poll, out Tuesday, showed Hillary Rodham Clinton's numbers sinking in Pennsylvania - a trend that could affect Toomey's 2016 reelection bid.

The poll showed a sharp drop in Pennsylvanians' approval of Clinton, the Democrats' presidential front-runner in waiting. Her favorability stood at 48-47, according to the poll, down from 55-38 on Feb. 3. And her lead in the commonwealth has narrowed in head-to-head matchups against Republican hopefuls like Jeb Bush and Chris Christie. Clinton even trails Rand Paul, 45-44.

Clinton's ratings also fell in two other swing states, Ohio and Florida, according to Quinnipiac surveys there.

The poll surveyed 1,036 Pennsylvania voters between March 17 and 28. The margin of error is 3 percentage points.

Assistant poll director Tim Malloy called the results "a red flag in blue state Pennsylvania."

That's bad news for Keystone State Democrats, who are counting on a Clinton surge to help them unseat Toomey - a key to their party's taking back the Senate.

Most Democrats around the state express grudging admiration for Toomey's political skills, saying he has done as well as a Republican could hope to do while preparing to run for reelection in a state that has voted Democrat for the last six presidential races.

Democrats have said that Clinton's strength, and in particular her appeal to working-class white voters, gives them a good shot at beating Toomey, who won his seat by just 2 percentage points in 2010 even with a historic GOP wave behind him.

If she weakens, so does that argument.