Former Vice President Joe Biden maintains a several point lead over President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania, according to a new Franklin & Marshall College poll.

Biden leads Trump by 6 points, 48-to-42, among likely voters in the state. The former VP extends his lead to 9 points, 49-to-40, among registered voters polled in the state. 

Biden’s lead among registered voters grew in comparison to last month’s poll that showed Biden ahead by 7 points, 49-to-42, among registered voters in the state. 

39% say that Trump is doing an “excellent” or “good job” as president, while 51% say that Trump is doing a “poor” job, and 10% say he is doing “only a fair job” as president. The 39% job approval rating is a slight decrease from last month’s F&M poll that showed Trump with a 41% job approval rating. Trump’s job approval rating is “slightly lower” than President Barack Obama’s at this same point in his presidency. 

Out of 11 specific issues/characteristics polled, Biden bests Trump on 10 of these issues among registered voters polled. Trump’s lone advantage in this section of the polling is which candidate would better handle the economy, which Trump leads Biden by 2 points, 48-to-46, on the matter. Biden leads Trump on the following issues: who will do a better job of keeping communities safe (48-to-43), who will better handle the job of commander in chief in the military (53-to-41), who will change government policies in a way that makes your life better (46-to-40), who is most prepared to handle foreign policy issues (52-to-40), who is closest to your views on value issues, such as abortion and gay marriage (50-to-38), who best understands the concerns of ordinary Americans (53-to-36), who has the character and good judgment needed to be president (54-to-34), who will better manage issues related to race (54-to-32), who has the best plan to handle the coronavirus (50-to-31), and who is the most honest and trustworthy (52-to-28). 

COVID-19 remains the most important problem facing Pennsylvania registered voters today, although it has dipped in comparison to last month’s F&M poll. 25% said that COVID-19 is the most important problem facing the state today, while 31% said it was the most important problem in August polling. 

The only other options that surpassed double digits in this poll was “government, politicians” being selected by 15% of people viewing it as the most important issue facing the state today, followed by 14% selecting “unemployment, personal finances,” and 10% saying the “economy, finances.” 

60% of voters say  that they expect to cast their ballot in person, while 34% say they expect to vote-by-mail. Although 58% of the state’s registered voters favor the use of mail-in ballots, there is a partisan divide on who favors the use of mail-in voting and who opposes it. 86% of Democrats favor the use of mail-in voting, 62% of Independents support mail-in voting, while only 24% of Republicans favor it. 

Recent polling shows Biden leading Trump in the state, although the margin varies by the pollster. 

The Real Clear Politics Average shows Biden besting Trump by 4.1 points in Pennsylvania. 

This poll surveyed 625 registered voters, including 480 likely voters, collected data between September 14-20, has a margin of error of +/-6.5%. 

The full data can be found here.