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Polls Show Gov. Corbett In Trouble, Wolf In The Lead

HARRISBURG (KDKA) - Three independent polls just released all say the same thing: Gov. Tom Corbett is in trouble for reelection this year.

"This is no secret that this governor is vulnerable," Republican political strategist Mike DeVanney told KDKA political editor Jon Delano on Wednesday.

DeVanney admits what everyone knows: Corbett is in a battle for his political life.

The latest Quinnipiac Poll finds that 55 percent of voters say Corbett does not deserve reelection, with just 34 percent backing his return for another four years.

Numbers like that has spurred the opposition.

"You would not have the number of candidates in the Democratic field as you would if this election was going to be very apparent," said DeVanney.

Seven Democrats are vying for the chance to take on Corbett -- John Hanger, JoEllen Litz, Rob McCord, Katie McGinty, Allyson Schwartz, Jack Wagner and Tom Wolf.

Two polls of Democratic voters show one man clearly in the lead.

The Harper Poll has Wolf at 40 percent, Schwartz at 14 percent, McCord at eight percent, Wagner and Hanger at seven percent, and McGinty at six percent.

"There shouldn't be a surprise here that the person spending the most money, the person who is really the only person spending any money, is in the lead," noted DeVanney.

Wolf, a multi-millionaire, has pumped $10 million of his own into campaign ads.

"Money counts to pay for television ads, and television ads introduce elected officials, candidates, to voters at large," DeVanney said.

The F&M Poll found that among those who have seen Wolf's ads, he leads 56 percent to six percent over his nearest competitor.

DeVanney's advice to all the others: "I tell them to get on the air."

McGinty has just started running TV ads, but no word from the others on when they will start.

DeVanney says the longer they wait the harder it will be to turn around Wolf's lead.

Interestingly, Corbett's numbers are so bad that right now each of these Democrats beat him, although Wolf -- unknown just weeks ago -- has the strongest lead at 19 points -- over Corbett.

These polls are snapshots of today, not predictions of what will happen in May or November.

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