Democratic challenger Joe Biden is leading Republican President Donald Trump by 9 points in Pennsylvania with less than eight weeks to go until the Nov. 3 election, according to an NBC News/Marist poll released Wednesday.
The lead for Biden in one of the most important swing states to winning the presidential election is larger in the new poll of likely voters compared to other recent polls, which showed a tightening of the race.
Trump trailed by greater margins in July polls, but saw a rebound of sorts in a Monmouth University Poll of likely voters released last week. Trump only trailed by 1 to 3 points in that poll.
"Among suburban likely voters, Biden leads Trump by nearly 20 points, 58 percent to 39 percent," according to the NBC News/Marist poll's findings. "That’s a significant flip from 2016, when Trump won suburban voters in the state by about an eight-point margin, according to exit polls."
Pennsylvania, with its 20 electoral college votes and incredibly close split between Democrats, Republicans and independent voters, is one of the most important states to win for both candidates.
Trump eked out a victory in 2016 in Pennsylvania after Democrat Hillary Clinton garnered less support in the state than former President Barack Obama did in his two election wins. Trump was the first Republican since former President George H.W. Bush to win Pennsylvania.
The NBC News/Marist poll of 771 likely Pennsylvania voters was conducted by cell phone and landline interviews Aug. 31 to Sept. 7.
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The race between Biden and Trump has reportedly tightened in other swing states as well.
In Minnesota, which Hillary Clinton narrowly won in 2016, Trump is trying to flip the state this year. Political observers in that state say things are very tight, though polls show Biden maintains a slim lead.
In another poll conducted at the end of August, likely voters gave Biden a sizable lead in western swing states like Arizona and Colorado.
