Here’s a fun event to look for this weekend: A Pennsylvania Senate debate between former Rep. Pat Toomey, the likely Republican nominee — and Democratic Rep. Joe Sestak, who is challenging incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter in the Dem primary.
The event, which was first announced three weeks ago, will be held this Sunday at La Salle University in Philadelphia. Notably absent will be Specter himself. Instead, the event should be full of attacks on Specter as both Toomey and Sestak attempt to raise their own profiles.
Specter was first elected to the Senate as a Republican in 1980. As a moderate Republican, 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’s support among Republicans plummeted in 2009, after he provided a crucial vote to pass President Obama’s stimulus package, and he subsequently switched parties when polls showed he would lose a primary rematch against Toomey.
Although the entire Democratic establishment began backing Specter immediately, from President Obama on down to Dem organizations in Pennsylvania, Sestak then set out to challenge Specter in his new party’s primary.
The TPM Poll Average for the Democratic primary gives Specter a lead over Sestak of 45.5%-28.0%. The primary will be held on May 18. In the general election, the TPM Poll Average gives Toomey a lead over Specter of 43.1%-39.6%, and a lead over Sestak of 38.9%-32.0%.
