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Chester County Press

Franklin & Marshall College Poll charts views of Pennsylvania voters

03/31/2015 12:37PM ● By Steven Hoffman

The results of the Franklin & Marshall College Poll of Pennsylvania were revealed last week, and there appears to be more optimism that the state is headed in the right direction. This is the 24th year of consecutive polling in Pennsylvania. Here are some of the highlights:

• More voters, 39 percent, believe the state is headed in the right direction than at any time since January 2010, while forty-seven percent feel it is off on the wrong track.

• Nearly two in five (38 percent) registered Pennsylvania voters believes Gov. Tom Wolf is doing an “excellent” or “good” job as governor -- more than three in five (58 percent) Democrats rate his performance as “excellent” or “good.”

• Senator Pat Toomey currently leads Democrat Joe Sestak by a five-point margin, 34 percent to 29 percent, although most voters (37 percent) are still undecided about this race.

• Voters indicate their top priority for state government is an increase in funding for public education (27 percent) or local property tax reform (25 percent).

• A majority of state voters support the Governor’s budget plan (59 percent) – increasing the sales and personal income taxes and creating a Marcellus Shale extraction tax to reduce local property taxes and increase funding to public schools.

• State store privatization is supported by forty-nine percent of the state’s voters, while thirty-seven percent oppose, which is consistent with past surveys.

• Two in three (66 percent) of voters support increasing the state’s minimum wage to $10.10 per hour.

This survey reflects interviews with 597 Pennsylvania registered voters conducted by the Center for Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall College from March 17-23. The sample error of the survey is +/- 4.2 percentage points).