Eye on the Senate: Specter's 20-Point Lead Evaporates

By CQ-Roll Call Staff | July 22, 2009 11:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Despite changing parties to boost his re-election prospects, Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., is in a statistical tie with his likely Republican opponent, former Rep. Patrick Toomey, who ran unsuccessfully against Specter in 2004, according to a Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.survey conducted July 14-19.

"Specter's 20-point lead over former Congressman Pat Toomey less than three months ago has virtually vanished," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

The poll shows Specter with 45 percent and Toomey with 44 percent, well inside the margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points

In a Quinnipiac poll in late May, Specter led Toomey 46 percent to 37 percent.

Specter, who had won all five of his Senate elections as a Republican, switched to the Democratic Party on April 28.

The poll also found that 49 percent of Pennsylvania voters think Specter does not deserve re-election to a sixth term in the Senate, while 40 percent would support his re-election.

In a primary with Rep. Joe Sestak, D-Pa., Specter holds an advantage of 46 percent to 37 percent, the survey found.

The poll was based on interviews with 1,173 voters in Pennsylvania.

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Comments

Please God, let this poll be accurate.

Posted by: NObama | July 22, 2009 9:19 PM

It would be great to dump a career politician who showed he'll do anything to stay in office. However, the way the deck is stacked for incumbents, he'll probably hang on.

Posted by: billp | July 23, 2009 12:18 PM