Biden’s campaign ramps up in Pennsylvania as new poll shows him ahead

President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign opened 14 coordinated offices across Pennsylvania since the State of the Union address.

President Joe Biden’s campaign operation is expanding in Pennsylvania at the same time a new poll puts Biden ahead of former President Donald Trump in the commonwealth.

A new poll released by Franklin and Marshall College on Thursday has Biden up two points over Trump, but that lead expands to an impressive 10-point margin in a head-to-head scenario without any third party candidates included. It’s not yet clear if the better-known third party contenders will make the ballot.

The poll was conducted weeks after Biden delivered his State of the Union address in March, and since then, Democrats have begun laying out the infrastructure for Biden’s reelection this upcoming fall.

“Pennsylvania elects presidents, and our critical investments in March – opening coordinated offices across the Commonwealth, hiring staff, and mobilizing volunteers – show our commitment to engaging voters early and often – while Donald Trump still has no public campaign infrastructure here,” Biden’s Pennsylvania campaign manager Nikki Lu said in a statement.

“While Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have capped the cost of insulin at $35 a month for seniors, helped create over 500,000 good-paying jobs in Pennsylvania, and worked to protect our Constitution and democracy, Donald Trump has vowed to repeal the Affordable Care Act, pass a nationwide abortion ban, and be a dictator on ‘day one.’ Our campaign will ensure that voters understand their choice this November.”

Democrats opened 14 field offices as part of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party’s coordinated campaign towards the end of March.

The offices are located in key parts of the commonwealth and will host training sessions, recruitment events and canvass launches.

Biden has made more than 30 trips to the Keystone State since taking office, and the commonwealth has benefitted from his major legislative accomplishments during his first term.

Pennsylvania received over $21 billion in federal funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the American Rescue Plan while receiving an additional $300 million in semiconductor investments from the CHIPS and Science Act.

“The Democratic coordinated campaign is committed to investing across the entire state,” Lancaster Democrats County Vice Chair Stella Sexton said in a statement. “No county, town, or vote is being taken for granted.”

The Biden-Harris campaign launched a six-week $30 million ad buy in key swing states, Pennsylvania included, after the State of the Union address,  targeting in particular the Latino, Black and Asian American Pacific Islanders communities.

While all this work is happening from the Biden campaign, it’s unclear if Trump’s campaign has much of a presence in Pennsylvania.

Chris LaCivita, a senior Trump advisor, told the Allentown Morning Call that Trump and the Republican National Committee “are fueled by passionate volunteers who care about saving America and firing Joe Biden,” and they “do not feel obligated however to discuss the specifics of our strategy, timing and tactics with members of the News Media.”