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Keystone State may be key

Posted at 2:43 PM, May 15, 2019
and last updated 2019-05-15 16:13:07-04

PITTSBURGH, PA – APRIL 29: Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden speaks at a campaign rally at Teamsters Local 249 Union Hall April 29, 2019 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Biden began his first full week of campaigning for president by speaking on how to rebuild America’s middle class. (Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)

A new poll in a key battleground state shows former Vice President Joe Biden leading President Trump with sharp divisions along gender and racial lines.

The Quinnipiac University survey shows Biden leading Trump 53 percent to 42 percent. The gender gap is wide, with Biden leading Trump among women 60 percent to 36 percent, while Trump holds a 49 percent to 45 percent lead among men.

The two men are close among white voters, with 49 percent saying they support Biden and 45 percent supporting Trump. Among non-white voters, the former Vice President holds a commanding 70 percent to 27 percent lead.

Trump won Pennsylvania by less than one point in 2016, and he was the first Republican presidential candidate to carry the Keystone State since 1988. Trump’s win in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin were considered keys to his victory. Those three states traditionally vote Democratic in Presidential elections and are expected to be keys to victory in 2020.

Biden is basing his campaign in Pennsylvania, and his first two big events are in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

In other match-ups, the poll shows Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders running ahead of the President 50 percent to 43 percent, while the President is essentially tied with other top-tier Democrats.

The margin for error in the poll is 4.2 percent, according to Quinnipiac.