Specter Loses Ground in 2010 Fight
Specter now leads Toomey by just one percentage point, garnering 45 percent of the vote to Toomey's 44.
An early May Quinnipiac poll showed Specter with a 20 point lead over Toomey, which dropped to 9 points by the end of the month.
Specter's current favorability rating now sits at 45 percent, while 44 percent having a unfavorable opinion. According to the poll, 49 percent of voters believe Specter does not deserve reelection and 47 percent disapprove of his handling of his job.
"Voters see Sen. Specter much less favorably than they once did and are net negative about giving him a sixth term in the U.S. Senate," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "Sen. Arlen Specter's 20-point lead over former Congressman Pat Toomey less than three months ago has virtually vanished."
Although he may not have much advantage over the leading Republican challenger, the poll shows favorable prospects for Specter in the Democratic primary race against Representative Joe Sestak. Specter leads with 55 percent of the vote compared to Sestak's 23 percent.
Specter was elected to the Senate in 1980 as a Republican, but switched to the Democratic party earlier this year.