Joe Biden is currently leading Donald Trump in the key swing state of Pennsylvania, which could be the battleground that decides the 2020 presidential election, according to a new report from Newsweek .
A new Muhlenberg College/Morning Call survey showed Biden holding a 7-point advantage over the president, getting the support of 51 percent of voters compared to 44 percent for the incumbent. The deficit was outside the poll’s 5.5 percent margin of error, showing a clear advantage for the Democratic challenger in what had been one of the closest contests this cycle. It may be difficult for Trump to make up ground. The survey found that a little more than half of all respondents said the president should not be re-elected, partly because of what they saw as his mishandling of the coronavirus.
The Republican candidate did have enthusiasm in his favor, however, with 79 percent of his voters saying they were enthusiastic to cast a ballot for him compared to just 51 percent for Biden.
Pennsylvania could be one of the most important states on November 3. As of Friday afternoon, the polling analysis site FiveThirtyEight had identified it as the most likely “tipping point” — the contest that would put Biden over the 270 electoral vote mark needed to win. Trump took the state 2016, turning it red for the first time in 28 years.
Biden has been leading in polling coming out of key battlegrounds, including expanding the map to traditionally Republican battlegrounds like Texas and Georgia. Newsweek noted that he had also steadily improved his advantage in Pennsylvania.
“According to recent polls, Biden holds an average 6.2 percentage point lead over Trump in the state, FiveThirtyEight reported on Friday,” Newsweek stated. “The former vice president’s favorability in the state has grown in the past few months, with a Muhlenberg College/Morning Call poll in August showing him with a 4-point lead. Back in February, the two not yet nominated candidates were tied, according to Muhlenberg College/Morning Call’s survey at the time.”
Trump’s re-election campaign was handed another setback in Pennsylvania this week as well. As Politico reported, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled on Friday that ballots could not be rejected because of signature comparisons, holding back a challenge from Trump’s campaign and other Republican groups that had argued the ballots should be invalid to prevent election fraud.
Turnout for the upcoming election is expected to be high as many places are offering expanded voting options for those who do not want to take to the polls during a pandemic.