The new Muhlenberg poll of Pennsylvania gives Sen. Arlen Specter only a narrow lead in his Democratic primary against Rep. Joe Sestak, which is coming up on May 18.
The numbers: Specter 48%, Sestak 42%. The sample of likely Dem primary voters has a ±5% margin of error. The TPM Poll Average gives Specter a lead of 45.2%-34.0%, with some recent gains for Sestak due to his ad campaign in the home stretch of the primary.
Specter was first elected to the Senate as a Republican in 1980, and served as a moderate, socially liberal GOPer. He was challenged from the right for the GOP nomination in 2004 by then-Rep. Pat Toomey, and won by only a 51%-49% margin. Specter was a crucial vote to pass President Obama’s stimulus package, and he then subsequently switched parties when polls showed he would lose a GOP primary rematch with Toomey. The White House and Democratic leadership promptly endorsed Specter for re-election, but Sestak soon got into the race pitching himself as the true Democrat.
