Republican Senator Rick Santorum continues to trail Democratic challenger Bob Casey, Jr. The latest Rasmussen Reports election poll shows Santorum behind by 16 percentage points, 52% to 36%. That's essentially the same gap we found in last month's poll.

In November Santorum was 20 points behind. At that time, perhaps some of his slump could be attributed to trouble for the Republicans generally. But now, despite recent scandals associated with lobbyist Jack Abramoff, most other Republican incumbents facing stiff challenges are polling a bit better.

Only 38% of likely voters now view Santorum favorably. He is viewed unfavorably by 47%. And 15% are not sure what to think of him, high for an incumbent Senator seeking his third term.

Casey continues to draw more support from Republicans than Santorum can draw from Democrats. He also earns more 48% of unaffiliated voters, more than double what the incumbent earns. Casey attracts almost three times as much support from moderates.

Casey is viewed favorably by 46%. Only 27% view him unfavorably.

Visit the Rasmussen Reports Election Polls page to see a summary of our latest state-by state polling.

Forty-two percent (42%) of likely Pennsylvania voters approve of President Bush's job performance, 57% disapprove. The state is officially "blue," with Kerry having won its electoral votes in 2004. But he did so by only a couple percentage points (whereas in the contiguous blue state of New York, Kerry's margin was 18 points).

More voters tend to trust the Democrats over the President on both Iraq and the economy, but this "trust divide" also is not nearly large enough to explain the drag on Santorum's numbers.

Only 21% of the state's voters expect things in the U.S. to be better in a year than they are now. Forty percent (40%) say things will get worse, 40% say they'll stay about the same. More Democrats are pessimistic than Republicans.

Visit our Election Polls page to see a summary of our latest state-by state polling. Rasmussen Reports is polling every Senate and Governors' race at least once a month this year.

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