Casey maintains lead over GOP’s McCormick in Pa. Senate race
WASHINGTON — The most recent poll of Pennsylvania’s all-important Senate race has U.S. Sen. Bob Casey continuing to lead former hedge fund CEO David McCormick.
Mr. Casey, a three-term Democratic incumbent, was ahead, 46% to 39%, in a contest that could determine which party controls the Senate next year, according to a poll released Thursday by Franklin & Marshall College.
Mr. Casey held a slightly smaller advantage than in February’s F&M poll, when he led Mr. McCormick, 47% to 35%, but that change is within the survey’s margin of error.
According to an average of polls tracked by Real Clear Politics, the senator maintains an edge of 5.7 percentage points over Mr. McCormick, the Republican challenger and a former George W. Bush administration official. But that advantage for Mr. Casey is down almost 2 percentage points from midMarch.
Mr. Casey’s job approval rating stood at 39%, with 46% disagreeing with his performance in office. At this point in his 2018 re-election campaign, he was at 37% positive and 43% negative.
Mr. McCormick and other Republican candidates are trying to link Mr. Casey and other Democratic candidates to President Joe Biden, who received just a 35% approval rating, with 64% rating him negatively.
Mr. Casey, a former state treasurer and auditor general and the son of a former governor, still enjoys strong name recognition and favorability advantages over Mr. McCormick, the poll showed. He has won each of his Senate races by at least 9 percentage points. In 2012, he won re-election after a Franklin & Marshall poll showed 37% approved of his performance.
The senator’s first campaign ads highlight his fight for legislation that expanded health care for veterans and his recent push to combat price gouging and to roll back corporate tax breaks. Mr. Biden put Mr. Casey’s effort to curtail “shrinkflation” — higher prices for less product — in the national spotlight during his State of the Union address.
Mr. Casey was viewed favorably by 40% and unfavorably by 34%. Only 24% viewed Mr. McCormick favorably, with 30% giving him an unfavorable rating.
The opportunity for Mr. McCormick is addressing the 46% of registered voters who said they didn’t know enough about him to express an opinion. His first ads highlight his days as a champion Pennsylvania wrestler and as a West Point graduate and veteran, and focused on a lack of leadership in Washington without naming Mr. Casey.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, meanwhile, had the highest approval rating for a governor at this point during a first term since former Gov. Tom Ridge. According to the poll, 54% of respondents said they believe Mr. Shapiro is doing a good or excellent job, while 40% put his performance as fair or poor.
And Mr. Shapiro earned more positive ratings among Democrats (83%) and independents (57%) than either Mr. Casey or President Joe Biden. More than a quarter of Republicans (29%) said they viewed Mr. Shapiro positively.
The survey of 870 registered Pennsylvania voters was conducted March 20-31 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.