Free Republic

My apologies if a thread already exists. I did a search on "Toomey" and found nothing. I arrived at my polling area (suburban Philadelphia) at 6:45 am to hand out palm cards. The weather is terrific this morning, but turnout (I thought) was light (I had to leave at 9:15, but will be back). Actually, I have a good feeling about Pat.

<p>PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Moderate Republican Sen. Arlen Specter beat back a tough primary threat Tuesday, barely defeating a conservative congressman who lacked support from party leaders but gained momentum by casting the four-term incumbent as too liberal.</p> <p>Specter, 74, eked out a win against Rep. Pat Toomey, 42, despite a low turnout among Pennsylvania's 3.1 million registered Republicans that had been expected to aid the challenger.</p>

<p>Sen. Arlen Specter eked out a narrow win over Rep. Patrick J. Toomey in yesterday's Republican primary for Pennsylvania's Senate seat — the most contentious Senate primary challenge for either party this year.</p> <p>With 96 percent of precincts reporting in unofficial returns, Mr. Specter led with 51 percent, or 499,731 votes, to Mr. Toomey's 49 percent, or 483,626 votes. The Associated Press called the race for Mr. Specter at about 12:15 this morning.</p>

<p>Democrats have some new opportunities to pick up Senate seats this year, but the Republicans still are favored to make net gains in the South, where President Bush and his party draw their strongest support.</p> <p>Entering 2004, Republicans appeared to have a slam-dunk shot at strengthening their tenuous 51-seat hold on the Senate with a bonanza of five open Democratic seats in Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina and South Carolina. But their lopsided Southern advantage has been offset to some degree by unexpected Republican retirements in Colorado and Oklahoma that have enlarged the Democrats' targeted-for-takeover list.</p>

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Moderate Republican Sen. Arlen Specter scored a narrow primary win over a conservative congressman on Tuesday in a race that could influence the November battles for control of the Senate and White House. Specter, a four-term Senate veteran and one of the chamber's last moderate Republicans, outlasted Rep. Pat Toomey, 51-49 percent, winning by about 15,000 votes out of more than one million ballots cast. "It's been a very, very difficult campaign," Specter told supporters in a downtown Philadelphia ballroom before the final results were tallied, lamenting the criticism he has faced for his support for abortion...