Former President Donald Trump has now pulled ahead of President Joe Biden in seven battleground states, including Pennsylvania, according to polling released Tuesday.
Pollsters found Trump beat Biden by 2 percent in Pennsylvania. The former president garnered the support of 47 percent of those polled compared to Biden’s 45 percent. Eight percent of Pennsylvania respondents told pollsters they were undecided.
The New Emerson College Polling survey found Trump is also ahead of Biden in Arizona and Georgia, where data showed the former president would beat Biden by 4 percent and 3 percent, respectively, if the election were held today.
They also found Trump is 1 percent ahead of Biden in Michigan and Nevada, enjoys a 5-point lead in North Carolina, and is 2 percentage points ahead in Wisconsin. The pollsters reported a margin of error of 3 percent, and their survey was conducted between April 25 and April 29.
Respondents similarly expressed low approval rates for Biden, with 51 percent of Pennsylvanians disapproving of the current president.
Biden had the greatest disapproval in North Carolina, where pollsters found that just 37 percent of the president’s job performance was approved, while 53 percent disapproved.
Pollsters also found Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick is within striking distance of Senator Bob Casey (D-PA).
The Republican challenger had the support of 42 percent of respondents, while Casey’s support charted at 46 percent.
McCormick’s latest polling marks a substantial improvement from the previous Emerson survey in February, which found the Republican was 10 points behind the Democratic incumbent.
The Republican previously ran for the party’s nomination for U.S. Senate in 2022 but ultimately conceded the race to Dr. Mehmet Oz, who went on to lose to Senator John Fetterman (D-PA).
Emerson’s latest poll may provide additional encouragement to Republicans concerned about the political consequences of the criminal trials against Trump, as less than half of respondents said the New York hush money trial is appropriate, and 43.1 percent of respondents called it a “witch hunt.”
An additional 32.7 percent of respondents said they would be more likely to support Trump if he is convicted, while just 29.7 percent said a conviction would make them less likely to vote for the former president.
A plurality of respondents, 37.6 percent, said a criminal conviction would hold no sway over their vote.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to pappert.tom@proton.me.
Photo “Joe Biden” by Joe Biden.Â
