Toomey still leads Specter, Sestak - Delco Times
By Alex Rose
Republican U.S. Senate candidate and former U.S. Rep. Pat Toomey continued to lead Democrats in a new poll this week from Rasmussen Reports.
According to a survey of 1,000 likely voters conducted Feb. 8, 47 percent would vote for Toomey over incumbent U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., who trailed by nearly 10 points with 38 percent.
Toomey likewise led U.S. Rep. Joseph Sestak, D-7, of Edgmont, 43 percent to 35 percent.
The poll, with a 3 point margin of error and 95 percent confidence level, additionally found Specter was seen as “very favorable” by 18 percent of those polled, compared to 14 percent for Toomey and 7 percent for Sestak.
Some 43 percent found Toomey “somewhat favorable,” however, while Sestak garnered 26 percent and Specter polled at only 23 percent.
Thirty-eight percent found Specter “very unfavorable,” compared to 13 percent for Sestak and 10 percent for Toomey, and only five percent said they didn’t know enough about Specter to give an opinion. Twenty-five percent said the same of Sestak and 16 percent said they didn’t know Toomey well enough.
In a similar poll conducted the same day for the Democratic primary among 425 likely Democratic voters, 51 percent said they would go for Specter while 36 percent would vote for Sestak if the election were held today.
The poll, conducted with a 5 percent margin of error and 95 percent level of confidence, additionally found Specter holds a 33 percent “very favorable” rating, compared to Sestak’s 14 percent.
Sestak leads Specter in the “somewhat favorable” category 41 percent to 36 percent, though Sestak also has three points on Specter in the less enviable “somewhat unfavorable” range.
But 13 percent of respondents said they have a “very unfavorable” view of Specter compared to Sestak’s 4 percent and 21 percent of those surveyed did not know enough about Sestak to offer an opinion. Only 1 percent said the same of Specter.
