Leading into the New Year

According to Philly.com, AG Tom Corbett is holding a significant lead in the latest gubernatorial polls.

Tom Corbett is the clear frontrunner in the race to be Pennsylvania’s next governor, a new poll shows.

Corbett, the state’s two-term attorney general, had a 38-12 percent lead over U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach for the GOP gubernatorial nomination, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released this morning.

In the five-way race for the Democratic nomination, Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato leads the field with 14 percent of the vote while none of the others – Auditor General Jack Wagner, Philadelphia businessman Tom Knox, Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Hoeffel and Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty -- crack double-digits.

Corbett easily beats the three top-polling Democrats – Onorato, Wagner, and Hoeffel – in head-to-head matchups, the poll found. And none of the Democrats are well-known statewide.

“All of the candidates are so unknown to most Democrats that it is anyone’s guess what will happen,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. “One thing is for sure; with five months until the May 18, 2010 primary, none of the candidates is even close to separating themselves from the pack.”

It's going to be quite interesting to see how the Bonusgate trials impact the next five months of gubernatorial campaigning.