Poll: Specter In Serious Danger On Re-Election

Former Rep. Pat Toomey (R-PA) and Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA)
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A new Susquehanna poll has some awful numbers for Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA), with him stuck in a dead heat for re-election — and a huge majority of the state’s voters saying he doesn’t deserve re-election.

Only 31% of voters said Specter should be re-elected, with 59% saying someone else should be given a chance. It’s not surprising to learn that Specter has a large base of opposition — after all, he switched from the Republicans to the Democrats in order to avoid defeat in the GOP primary at the hands of former Rep. Pat Toomey — but that’s quite bad.

For his Democratic primary, in which he’s now being challenged by Rep. Joe Sestak, Specter holds a lead of 44%-16%, with very high undecideds and the incumbent under 50% against an opponent who is not well known statewide. In a general election against Toomey, Specter has 42% to Toomey’s 41%, within the ±3.7% margin of error.

Unfortunately, a Toomey vs. Sestak match-up was not tested, which would have given us an interesting comparison.

(Via Greg Sargent.)

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