Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden has opened up a 13-points lead over President Donald Trump among registered voters in Pennsylvania, a newly released poll shows.
According to a Monmouth University survey of Pennsylvania Biden has a 53 percent support compared to Trump with 40 percent. Four percent of respondents said they are undecided and 3 percent saying they will vote for someone else. Biden leads by more than 20 points among independents, 54 to 33.
The poll found that 93 percent of Democrats say they support Biden, compared to 84 percent of Republicans who say they support Trump, who won Pennsylvania by less than 1 point in 2016 to become the first GOP presidential candidate to carry the state since 1988.
Biden also leads 54 to 35 percent in the so-called “swing counties” where the race was closest in 2016. Biden leads 68 to 26 percent in the counties that Hillary Clinton won by wide margins, while Trump leads 55 to 40 percent in the counties he won easily in 2016.
Biden leads by 30 points among voters under the age of 50 and he leads by 10 points among voters over the age of 65.
But not everything was negative for Trump, who has a 16 point lead among white voters without a college degree. Biden leads by 27 points among whites with a college education. He leads by 60 points among racial minorities.
Trump and his Republican allies have argued that there is a “social desirability bias” in the polls because so-called “shy” Trump voters are embarrassed to admit they support the president over fears they’ll be ostracized by their family, friends or coworkers.
The Monmouth poll found that 57 percent of all voters in Pennsylvania believe there are secret Trump voters in their community.
