PA Primary Poll Suggests Dem Battle For US Senate Will Be Close

By David Madden

WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ (CBS) -- Some interesting results in a newly released Monmouth University poll, a week ahead of the Pennsylvania Primary.

In the Presidential race, Democrats favor Hillary Clinton 52 to 39 percent over Bernie Sanders. Last week, Republican Donald Trump had 44 percent support compared to 28 for Ted Cruz and 23 for John Kasich.

The surprise comes in the Democratic US Senate race, where Katie McGinty and Joe Sestak are tied at 39, with John Fetterman a distant third at 4 percent statewide.

Incumbent Republican Pat Toomey is running unopposed.

Monmouth poll director Patrick Murray suggests for the Democrats, it's a matter of geography.

"Sestak had a congressional district in the southeastern portion of the state. He does best there. He also does fairly well in the central and northeastern parts of the state," Murray told KYW Newsradio. "In the western third of the state, McGinty is over 50 percent. She's got 51 percent of the vote there to just 28 percent for Sestak."

McGinty also enjoys the backing of the state Democratic party organization. That, paired with Presidential turnout, could be key here.