Pennsylvania Democrats have yet to settle on a possible successor to Gov. Edward G. Rendell, who is retiring after reaching his limit of two terms, according to a Quinnipiac University poll taken Sept. 21-28.
With no early frontrunner, the party is is in danger of losing the office to the Republicans, the survey found.
Half the Democrats in the poll of registered voters are undecided, and the other half are scattered among five candidates, led by Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato, who tops the field with 14 percent. Former Rep. Joseph M. Hoeffel, who is now a Montgomery County commissioner, drew 12 percent in the poll, followed by State Auditor General Jack Wagner with 11 percent, Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty with 8 percent, and businessman Tom Knox with 5 percent.
"The Democratic race for governor is wide open," said Peter Brown, assistant director of Quinnipiac's polling institute. "The candidates just aren't that visible to most voters and that race is still far, far away from even having a front- runner.'
On the Republican side, state Attorney General Tom Corbett's 42 percent to 13 percent lead over Rep. Jim Gerlach is attributed in large part to his superior name recognition: Corbett was elected statewide in 2004 and re-elected in 2008, while Gerlach has won four elections in the state's 6th District, an area of southeastern Pennsylvania that is one of 19 congressional districts in the state.
Still, Corbett's lead is not insurmountable, as evidenced by the 43 percent plurality of Republican voters who didn't indicate a preference for governor.
None of the candidates are well-known throughout the state. Corbett has the highest name recognition, though even 49 percent of poll respondents said they didn't know enough about him to rate him favorably or unfavorably. For each of the other six candidates, that figure is at least 71 percent.
In hypothetical November 2010 general election matchups, Corbett leads Onorato by 47 percent to 28 percent and Wagner by 44 percent to 29 percent.
Democrats aren't helped by Rendell's weak approval rating (42 percent approve, 51 percent disapprove).
The Quinnipiac poll is based on telephone interviews with 1,100 voters in Pennsylvania and carries an overall margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. For polling results specific to the Democratic or Republican primaries, the margin of error is plus or minus 4.5 percentage points
The primary elections will be held next May.
CQ Politics at the moment rates the Pennsylvania governor's race as a Tossup.
To follow the 2009 and 2010 governors' races, check out CQ Politics' election map.
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