U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter leads Democratic primary challenger U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak and Republican Pat Toomey in the race for Mr. Specter’s seat, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released this morning.

Mr. Specter leads Mr. Sestak, 53-29 percent in the primary race, and Mr. Toomey 49-42 percent in a general election matchup, up from a 44-44 percent tie Dec. 18.

In a battle of relative unknowns, Mr. Toomey leads Mr. Sestak, 39- 36 percent, with 24 percent undecided.

From Feb. 22-28, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,452 Pennsylvania voters. The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points. The survey includes 649 Democrats, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.

“Specter’s edge is that he is so much better known than his challengers at this point,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. “Only 11 percent of voters say they don’t know enough about him to form an opinion, while 74 percent of voters, including 73 percent of Democrats, say Sestak is too unfamiliar for them to have an opinion.

“Toomey remains unfamiliar to 65 percent of voters. Toomey has eight months to close that gap, but Sestak has a much shorter timeline, given the May 18 primary.”

Read the full Post-Gazette story here

Tags: Arlen Specter, Arlen Specter for Senate, Joe Sestak, Joe Sestak for Senate, Pat Toomey, Pat Toomey for Senate

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