The new Suffolk poll of the Pennsylvania Democratic Senate primary gives Rep. Joe Sestak a huge lead over incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter, who has found himself struggling among Democratic primary voters over his switch from the Republican Party a year ago.
The numbers: Sestak 49%, Specter 40% — the largest lead for Sestak that has been recorded in any publicly released poll. The survey of likely Dem primary voters has a ±4.9% margin of error. The TPM Poll Average gives Specter a bare edge of 43.8%-43.5%, with Sestak quickly catching up.
From the pollster’s analysis: “A heavy minority vote could make a difference for Specter. Sestak won white voters 51 percent to 37 percent but trailed among minority voters, where Specter led 52 percent to 37 percent. Sestak carried union households by a wide margin, 60 percent to 36 percent”
Eric Kleefeld
Eric Kleefeld joined TPM as an intern for the final months of the 2006 midterm elections, and then kept showing up for work. His other interests include guitars, old comic books and the politics of various English-speaking countries.
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