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Poll: Corbett leads, Wagner fares better with conservatives than Onorato

As some see the Democratic primary for governor as more and more of a two-way race between Jack Wagner and Dan Onorato, Wagner can make at least one argument that he’s the more electable candidate in November—conservatives like him more.

That’s one of the findings of a new survey by the GOP firm Susquehanna Polling & Research, which found both Wagner and Onorato trailing state Attorney General Tom Corbett, the likely GOP nominee. Corbett leads Onorato by 15 points, 39 percent to 24 percent, with more than a third of voters undecided. Wagner, meanwhile, is down 11 points to Corbett, 37 percent to 26 percent; more than a third of voters are undecided in that matchup, too.

That Wagner has some popularity among conservatives isn’t news. He has long been to the right of his Democratic colleagues in the southeast, and when conservative activists were looking for an alternative candidate to Corbett last year, Wagner’s name would come up from time to time. And while Wagner faces a tough primary against the significantly better-funded Onorato, his ability to pull independents and Republicans into the fold could be a selling point.

In the central region of the state, often called the “T” for the shape the counties form, Wagner trails Corbett by about 18 points, compared to a 30-point deficit Onorato faces there.

How far that argument will go is an open question. The largest chunk of voters is still in the southeast, where Onorato seems best positioned to break away from what polls have shown is still a wide open race.

The survey of 700 voters, with a margin of error of 3.7 percent, did not poll the Democratic primary race, nor did it look at matchups between Corbett and other Democratic candidates.

Click here to see the poll.

March 15, 2010 at 1:08 pm

--Dan Hirschhorn

Tags: Dan Onorato, Jack Wagner, Tom Corbett

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