Philadelphia, PA, United States (AHN) – Conservative Pat Toomey continues to lead Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA) in the Senate race in Pennsylvania, according to two new polls.
Toomey has a 49 percent to 41 percent advantage over the congressman, according to a Magellan poll. The Republican has a 40 percent of voters viewing him positively, 37 percent negatively and 21 percent saying they had no opinion of him.
In contrast, Sestak has 32 percent with favorable views of him, 41 percent with unfavorable views, and 22 percent with no opinion of him.
A Muhlenberg College/Morning Call survey also has Toomey ahead, 46 percent to 39 percent. Among independents, the rivals are tied at 41percent apiece. Toomey leads among all age groups except seniors, who are essentially divided between the two candidates. Sestak leads among voters in the southeast but the Republican has the edge in the rest of the state.
Toomey has 39 percent of voters with positive views of him, 31 percent with negative views, and 27 percent with no opinion. Sestak has 33 percent viewing him favorably, 34 percent unfavorably, and 30 percent saying they were unsure or had a neutral opinion of the Democrat.
A former three-star Navy admiral who has a doctorate from Harvard University, Sestak is the highest-ranking veteran to serve in Congress. He defeated Sen. Arlene Specter (D-PA) in the primary in May largely due to backlash from Specter’s switch to the Democratic Party.
President Barack Obama, who endorsed Specter’s re-election bid before the primary, stumped for the congressman last week.
Sestak has been warning voters about Toomey’s plans to dismantle Social Security and ties to Wall Street. He launched an ad on Tuesday reminding showing footage of the conservative saying on CNBC in 2007 that he would like to eliminate “corporate taxes altogether.”
Sestak last month received the endorsement of a Republican, former Sen. Chuck Hagel. But he has continued to trail in polls, coming only
as close as 4 points of Toomey in a Critical Insights survey that showed a large section of voters undecided.
Toomey, a former congressman who left his post as president of the Club for Growth to run for the Senate, on Monday sought to soften his conservative credentials to appeal to a broader audience with the endorsement of a Democrat, former Harrisburg mayor Stephen Reed.
The Republican has been highlighting his record as a small business owner. He is also banking on continued voter dissatisfaction with the economy and the high unemployment rate to buoy him to the seat he first ran for in 2004.
Toomey lost to Specter in 2004 by a margin of less than 2 percent. He entered the race last year amid conservative criticisms of Specter’s support for Obama administration bills, including the $787 billion economic stimulus package.
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the race for Specter’s seat as a tossup. Pennsylvania elected the Republican to the Senate seat for five terms but went Democratic in the 2008 presidential race by a margin of 55 to 44 percent.
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