HARRISBURG -- For months, political polls have shown Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell with a comfortable double-digit lead over Republican challenger Lynn Swann.

A new Quinnipiac University survey released yesterday was no exception, as it showed Mr. Rendell holding a 57 percent to 38 percent lead over Mr. Swann among likely voters.

Mr. Swann, who also trails the governor by a 4-1 margin in fund raising, "has failed to make any significant headway over the summer," said pollster Clay Richards.

Besides lagging in campaign cash, Mr. Swann has two other problems, Mr. Richards said. Nearly 40 percent of the voters surveyed "don't know him well enough to form an opinion about him, and about a quarter of Republicans are voting for the Democratic governor."

The poll was taken Aug. 8-13 among 1,384 voters and has a theoretical margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.

Mr. Rendell, the former mayor of Philadelphia, was first elected in 2002 and is seeking a second term in November. Previous polls have shown him with a lead of 10 to 22 points over Mr. Swann.

Leonardo Alcivar, a Swann spokesman, said he isn't paying any attention to the new Quinnipiac poll, which he said "is meaningless."

He said that a poll last week by the Zogby organization showed Mr. Swann only 10 points behind. Mr. Alcivar said the campaign isn't putting its faith in any polls, but feels Mr. Swann will make progress in closing the gap before election day.

With only 2¹/₂ months left to turn things around, time is starting to run short for Mr. Swann.

In an effort to boost his campaign, the GOP challenger brought in President Bush yesterday for a fund-raiser in Lancaster, one of the most conservative areas of the state.

Even that move was a risk because the president's poll numbers have been dropping lately, at least in part because of the growing unpopularity of the conflict in Iraq.

"Lynn Swann is taking a big political gamble by inviting President Bush to campaign for him in Pennsylvania," Mr. Richards said, "but it's probably a risk he has to take."

He said that Mr. Bush should be able "to help Swann win back those Republicans who are backing Rendell, and the president can help raise the kind of money Swann needs to take on a well-financed Democratic incumbent."

Even in Mr. Swann's home county of Allegheny, the Quinnipiac poll showed that 58 percent of likely voters would vote for the Democratic incumbent, with 36 percent going for Mr. Swann. Mr. Rendell is strongest in his home area of Philadelphia, leading his opponent by 81 percent to 15 percent.

Mr. Rendell maintained he's not getting complacent.

"I am not too surprised by polls showing us way ahead, but I am working hard every day," he said.

Polls can sometimes be misleading, he said, noting that in the Democratic race for governor in 2002, he was at one point "25 points behind Bob Casey, but I won."

In the Quinnipiac poll, Mr. Swann came out strongest in the northwest, southwest and central parts of the state, actually edging out Mr. Rendell in the northwest (48 percent to 46 percent) and the central (50 percent to 47 percent), while trailing Mr. Rendell by only 50 percent to 45 percent in the southwest.

Voters approved of the way Mr. Rendell is doing his job by a 54-31 percent margin.

That contrasted sharply with voters' opinion of the state Legislature. By a 52-31 percent margin, they gave thumbs down to the way legislators are doing their job, showing the anger over the July 2005 pay raises has yet to subside.

As of the last fund-raising reports in June, Mr. Rendell led Mr. Swann by 4-1, taking in nearly $14 million to Mr. Swann's $3.25 million.

The GOP challenger said he hopes to begin running TV ads by early September, which could close the gap to some degree.