A new Franklin & Marshall poll shows Gov. Tom Corbett has made gains in his race for re-election, but Democratic hopeful Tom Wolf maintains a double-digit lead among registered and likely voters surveyed.
The York County cabinet magnate is 13 points ahead of Corbett among self-reported likely voter respondents. It's a narrowing lead, and it reflects the work Corbett has done to appeal to his base. 63 percent of surveyed Republicans say Corbett deserves re-election, up from 39 percent in August.
Poll Director Terry Madonna said Corbett's focus on his opponent's patchy tax plans has helped the Republican begin to catch up.
"It's that issue as well as the campaign toughness, resilience, more on-target, that has made a big difference in terms of the race," Madonna said.
Corbett's approval rating among respondents remains lower than it was for former Governors Ed Rendell and Tom Ridge at similar points in their terms.
The survey of 738 registered voters was taken over the past week and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.
