LANCASTER, PA (WHYY) -- Gov. Tom Wolf has increased his lead over Republican challenger Scott Wagner in the latest Franklin and Marshall College Poll.
The poll shows Wolf with a 26-point edge, 59 to 33 percent, over Wagner among likely voters. Wolf has held a big lead in fundraising and thus TV advertising throughout the campaign.
Poll director Terry Madonna said in an interview Wagner has been moving backwards.
"His favorables [rating], meaning how popular he is with the voters, has dropped as voters have become more knowledgeable about him," Madonna said. "And I don't think there's any doubt that his campaign has run into a couple of controversies."
Wagner got national attention three weeks ago when he said on a Facebook video that he would stomp on the governor's face with golf spikes.
The survey shows Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey with a less dramatic, but still-comfortable 15-point lead -- 50 to 35 percent -- over U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta.
The poll finds voters in both parties energized and that more plan to vote for Democrats than Republicans for Congress by a 52-38 percent margin.
The poll found President Donald Trump to be a big factor in voters' thinking.
About two-thirds of Democrats said they'd cast their votes for Congress mostly as votes against Trump and Republicans in Congress. Meanwhile, 83 percent of Republicans said they'd be voting for a GOP candidate mostly to show support for Trump and congressional Republicans.