By Alex Roarty
PoliticsPA Staff Writer
roarty@politicspa.com

Republican gubernatorial front-runner Tom Corbett is leading each of four Democratic opponents by more than 10 points in a hypothetical general election matchup, according to a new Rasmussen Reports poll released Monday.

But the attorney general never garners more than 50 percent of the vote in any matchup, an indication, as the polling firm put it, that the race for governor is still “wide open.” The poll surveyed 500 likely voters on Dec. 10 and has a margin of error of 4.5 percentage points.

Corbett beats Democratic gubernatorial front-runner Dan Onorato, chief executive of Allegheny County, 44 percent to 28 percent, the poll reports. Corbett defeats Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Hoeffel 48 percent to 26 percent, and Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty 46 percent to 23 percent.

The Democrat who comes closest to the GOP front-runner, according to the poll, is Auditor General Jack Wagner. He loses to Corbett 43 percent to 30 percent.

Rasmussen did not poll a hypothetical matchup between Corbett and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Knox or a gauge his level of support in a primary contest against U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach or state Rep. Sam Rohrer.

The poll likely solidifies the perception Corbett is not just the early GOP front-runner, but the leading candidate from either party.

The strength of Corbett’s still early candidacy is his high statewide name recognition. Fifty-nine percent of the voters held a favorable view of Corbett, with 22 percent of them holding a “very favorable” view.  Only 23 percent were “not sure” about him – by far the lowest total of any of the candidates.

To read the complete poll, click here.