Polls: GOP Challengers Lead Dems in 2 PA Races
| Republican challengers lead Democratic incumbents in a pair of closely watched Pennsylvania congressional races, according to new polling by Franklin & Marshall College.
Former congressman Mike Fitzpatrick leads Rep. Patrick Murphy, 49 percent to 35 percent, in one survey in suburban Philadelphia’s 8th District race, the seat Fitzpatrick held until Murphy beat him by a thin margin in 2006. In another, Mike Kelly has a slight lead over freshman Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper in the 3rd District, 44 percent to 38 percent. Eighteen percent were undecided. The district covers Erie and parts of other counties. Pollster G. Terry Madonna told the Philadelphia Daily News that waning support for President Barack Obama has hurt Murphy. Obama carried the district in 2008. Murphy’s campaign questioned the reliability of the poll, citing a 2006 Franklin & Marshall survey that showed Fitzpatrick with a similar lead in the election he ultimately lost. Murphy campaign manager Tim Persico said other polling shows Murphy with a four-point lead in a race that was expected to be tight. Fitzpatrick campaign spokesman Darren Smith said the poll backs up what its workers are hearing from voters. “Voters are rejecting the failed policies of congressman Murphy and Nancy Pelosi and their inability to improve the economy or rein in the jobless rate,” Smith said. The 8th District poll of 379 likely voters had a margin of error of 5 percentage points. In the 3rd District race, pollster Madonna said he believes Dahlkemper will need a large voter turnout in strongly Democratic Erie to hold onto her seat, according to the Erie Times-News. Dahlkemper spokeswoman Tina Mengine told the newspaper the poll “doesn’t worry us at all” and wasn’t consistent with what the congresswoman’s campaign was hearing in the field. Kelly campaign manager Brad Moore was encouraged by the numbers. “Obviously, a poll is just a snapshot. But we feel very good about where we are heading into October,” Moore said. The poll of 418 likely voters had a margin of error of 4.8 percentage points. Both polls were conducted Sept. 14-19 by telephone. The Franklin & Marshall polls are produced in conjunction with the Philadelphia Daily News, WGAL-TV, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Times-Shamrock Newspapers, The Patriot-News of Harrisburg and the Lancaster Newspapers. |