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In early May, Specter held a 20-point lead over Toomey, but that advantage had disappeared by July.

(CNN) – Dead even.

That's what a new poll in Pennsylvania indicates about next year's senate race between Sen. Arlen Specter and Republican challenger Pat Toomey.

According to the Quinnipiac University survey of Keystone State voters released Friday morning, the Republican-turned-Democratic incumbent is deadlocked at 44 percent with the former congressman and former head of the Club for Growth, a limited-government and anti-tax organization. Toomey had a statistically insignificant one point lead over Specter in an October 1 Quinnipiac poll.

In early May, Specter held a 20-point lead over Toomey, but that advantage had disappeared by July. Toomey led Specter in polls of a hypothetical Republican Senate primary earlier this year, before the five-term senator became a Democrat. Specter said at the time that the difficulty in winning the Republican primary was a factor in his decision to switch parties.

"With less than 11 months to go, Sen. Arlen Specter and Pat Toomey are neck-and-neck. Specter has the state's Democratic registration advantage on his side, while Toomey can take heart in the numbers that show problems for Specter in measures in addition to the horse race," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "For example, voters say 50 – 38 percent Specter does not deserve reelection."

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Toomey has not always had a warm relationship with Romney.

(CNN) - Mitt Romney is set to officially endorse Pennsylvania Senate candidate Pat Toomey Tuesday in Philadelphia, a move that marks the progress Romney has made in shoring up bonds with some key conservative constituencies.

Just over two years ago, with Romney's presidential effort in full swing, Toomey raised questions about the former Massachusetts governor's record on fiscal issues.

"Governor Romney's economic record contains a mixture of pro-growth accomplishments and some troublesome positions that beg to be explained," the then-Club for Growth president said in a statement, listing the group's concerns but giving the presidential candidate his conditional approval.

Still, in February of last year, after it became clear McCain had effectively beaten Romney to capture the GOP presidential nomination, Toomey penned a Wall Street Journal op-ed naming solid economic conservatives he thought the Arizona senator should consider as his running mate. Not on that list: Mitt Romney.

Romney also made effort on behalf of another Northeast Republican Monday night, attending a fundraiser for New Jersey's GOP gubernatorial candidate, Chris Christie.

– CNN's Rebecca Sinderbrand contributed to this report

Romney hits New Jersey tonight, Pennsylvania tomorrow.

(CNN) – Mitt Romney, continuing to lay the groundwork for a possible 2012 presidential run, will officially endorse Pennsylvania Senate candidate Pat Toomey Tuesday in Philadelphia.

It's a move that marks the progress Romney has made in shoring up bonds with some key conservative constituencies. Just over two years ago, with Romney's presidential effort in full swing, Toomey raised questions about the former Massachusetts governor's record on fiscal issues.

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Toomey raises over $1.5 million for the quarter.

WASHINGTON (CNN)– Republican Senate candidate Pat Toomey - whose looming primary challenge helped drive former GOP Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania into the Democratic Party - raised over $1.5 million this past quarter, his campaign announced Wednesday.

Toomey has brought in over $3.1 million from over 20,000 contributors since announcing his candidacy in April, according to his campaign.

Specter's edge over Toomey in a hypothetical general election matchup appears to have evaporated: polls released last week show the two in a dead heat.

A new poll of Pennsylvania voters indicates that Sen. Arlen Specter's appoval rating continues to drop.

(CNN) – A new poll of Pennsylvania voters indicates that Sen. Arlen Specter's appoval rating continues to drop.

According to a Quinnipiac University survey released Thursday morning, 44 percent of Pennsylvanians questioned approve of Specter's job as senator, with 48 percent saying they disapprove. That 44 percent approval rating is down 12 points from early May, soon after the longtime Republican switched his party identity from Republican to Democrat.

Specter is up for re-election next year and the poll suggests he continues to be deadlocked with his Republican challenger, Pat Toomey - a former congressman and former head of the Club for Growth, a limited-government, anti-tax organization.

Forty-three percent of people questioned say they'd back Toomey, with 42 percent supporting Specter. That's similar to a survey in July, but in early May Specter held a 20 point lead over his less well known opponent.

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A new poll out Wednesday has bad news for Sen. Specter's re-election bid.

(CNN) - A new poll of Pennsylvania voters suggests that Sen. Arlen Specter's double-digit lead over Republican challenger Pat Toomey in his bid for re-election next year has disappeared.

Forty-five percent of people questioned in a Quinnipiac University survey released Wednesday say they'd back Specter if the 2010 election were held today, with 44 percent supporting Toomey. That's a dramatic change from early May, soon after Specter switched from the Republican to Democratic parties, when a Quinnipiac poll indicated Specter held a 20 point lead over Toomey.

By a 49 to 40 percent margin, the poll indicates that Specter does not deserve to be re-elected to a sixth term next year. And 47 percent approve of how Specter's handling his duties as senator, matching his lowest approval rating ever in Quinnipiac polling. Forty-six percent disapprove, the highest disapproval rating ever.

"Sen. Arlen Specter's 20-point lead over former Congressman Pat Toomey less than three months ago has virtually vanished," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "Voters see Sen. Specter much less favorably than they once did and are net negative about giving him a sixth term in the U.S. Senate."
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WASHINGTON (CNN) - By any measure, Pat Toomey's having a pretty good week.

On Monday, the Pennsylvania Republican learned that state senator Jane Orie wouldn't be challenging him in the GOP Senate primary next year – news that broke, coincidentally enough, the same day the former congressman's campaign announced a cash haul of $1.6 million for the quarter.

And today, the frontrunner got the nod from the National Republican Senatorial Committee. The NRSC resisted calls to endorse Toomey after Arlen Specter defected to the Democratic Party, as rumors swirled they were looking for a more moderate candidate to take on the incumbent. Last week, NRSC officials met with Orie – a visit they described as a courtesy call.

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Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter's campaign raised $1.73 million in the second quarter of 2009.

(CNN) – Sen. Arlen Specter's campaign said Tuesday it raked in $1.73 million in the second quarter of this year, giving the Republican-turned-Democrat from Pennsylvania around $7.5 million in cash on hand.

"Our impressive fundraising this quarter demonstrates the strong support I have in the Democratic Party and across Pennsylvania," said Specter in a statement released by his campaign Tuesday.

Rep. Joe Sestak's re-election campaign reported Monday that the Pennsylvania Democrat raised more than $1 million in this year's second quarter, with around $4.2 million in the bank.

The two-term congressman from the state's 7th District has said that he plans to challenge Specter for the Democratic Senate nomination next year. Specter has the backing of President Barack Obama and party leaders as he gears up for re-election in 2010. On Tuesday, his campaign pointed to a new string of endorsements by local Democratic officials as evidence he was making headway in his efforts to win over the party's base.

On Monday, Pennsylvania Republican Pat Toomey said his campaign for the Senate has raised $1.6 million since he jumped into the race on April 15. Toomey's campaign also announced that they have $1.1 million cash on hand.

Toomey has raised $1.6 million for his Senate bid.

(CNN) – Pennsylvania Republican Pat Toomey says his campaign for the Senate has raked in $1.6 million since he jumped into the race on April 15.

Toomey's campaign also announced Monday that more than 15,000 people from across the country have contributed and that as of the end of June, the campaign had $1.1 million cash on hand.

"I am honored by all the people who have contributed to my campaign since my announcement," Toomey said in a statement. "These contributions come from folks across all of Pennsylvania and the country who know that America has a better future than the runaway spending and endless bailouts that are coming from Washington today. Together, I believe we can bring fiscal responsibility, political balance, and economic growth back to our country."

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WASHINGTON (CNN) - Former Republican Rep. Pat Toomey announced Tuesday that he has raised over $1 million in the past two months in his battle to beat Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter in the Pennsylvania Senate race.

"I am honored by out the outpouring of support for my campaign," Toomey said in a statement. "Thousands of people all across Pennsylvania and the country are rallying to our message of fiscal responsibility and bringing much-needed balance in Washington."

More than 11,000 individuals have contributed to his campaign since he announced candidacy on April 15, according to Toomey. The Republican Senate hopeful also said that Louisa Boyd, Specter's former finance director, joined Toomey's campaign.

Recent polls indicate that since Specter defected to the Democratic Party, his lead over Toomey has shrunk to just 9 points.

Later this month, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is planning to hold a major New York benefit for Specter's re-election bid.

New Democrat Sen. Arlen Specter, pictured in this file photo with the president at a White House event, has lost ground against his likely Republican challenger in a new poll.

(CNN) - A new poll of Pennsylvania voters suggests that Sen. Arlen Specter's lead over his most likely Republican challenger in next year's re-election battle is shrinking.

A Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday indicates that Specter tops former Rep. Pat Toomey by nine points, 46 percent to 37 percent. That's down from a 20 point lead that Specter held over Toomey in Quinnipiac's previous poll, which was released at the beginning of May, around the time that Specter switched from a Republican to a Democrat.

The poll suggests that Specter would top Rep. Joe Sestak 50 percent to 21 percent in a probable Democratic primary matchup. On Wednesday, Sestak announced that he would challenge Specter as long as his family goes along with the decision. The poll was conducted before Sestak's decision was announced.
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WASHINGTON (CNN) – Former GOP Rep. Pat Toomey, who is challenging Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter for his Senate seat in 2010, came to Judge Sonia Sotomayor's defense on Tuesday, saying the Supreme Court nominee deserves a fair chance.

Toomey, a conservative, said he believed that Democrats had a "knee-jerk opposition" to Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito during their confirmation hearings, but that Republicans shouldn't oppose Sotomayor's nomination simply based on partisanship.

"Just as it was wrong for liberal Democrats to adopt a knee-jerk opposition to Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito, it would be equally wrong for Republicans to oppose Judge Sotomayor on a partisan basis," Toomey said in a statement. "Judge Sotomayor deserves a fair hearing. If that hearing proves her to be of sound judicial temperament with the requisite knowledge of and respect for the Constitution, then she should be confirmed."

Toomey said over the past two decades, the process of confirming Supreme Court justices has become a "political football," and criticized Specter for his role during that era.

"Arlen Specter has played those political games more aggressively than most, arguing against Judge Bork and for Justice Thomas, depending on Specter's calculation of his own political needs," Toomey said. "That approach is bad for our country."

A new poll handicaps Arlen Specter's general election chances in 2010 against two prominent Pennsylvania Republicans.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - A new poll of Pennsylvania voters suggests that the newest Democrat in Congress, Sen. Arlen Specter, would easily beat his old rival, Republican Pat Toomey, in Specter's battle for re-election next year.

But the Quinnipiac University survey, released Monday, indicates that Specter would have a much tougher re-election fight on his hands if he faces
off in 2010 against former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge.

Last Tuesday Specter, who has represented Pennsylvania in the Senate for nearly 30 years as a Republican, announced he was switching his party affiliation from the GOP to the Democrats.

The longtime moderate Republican said he was "anxious" to stay in the Senate, and didn't want to face a Republican primary in order to keep his seat next year.

"I was unwilling to subject my 29-year record in the U.S. Senate to the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate," Specter said Tuesday. "But I am pleased to run in the primary on the Democratic ticket and am ready, willing and anxious to take on all comers in the general election."

Fifty-three percent of Pennsylvania voters say they would back Specter if their state's Senate race were held today, with 33 percent supporting Toomey. The fiscally conservative former congressman narrowly lost to Specter in the 2004 Pennsylvania Republican Senate primary and decided to take on Specter a second time after Specter was one of only three Republicans in Congress to vote for President Barack Obama's $787 billion stimulus package.

But if Specter faces off against Ridge, a popular former Pennsylvania governor before joining the Bush Administration after the September 11th attacks as the first director and then secretary of Homeland Security, the poll indicates the race, if held today, would be extremely close. Forty-six percent of those questioned back Specter, with 43 percent supporting Ridge.

CNN's Dana Bash reports that Ridge has been formally approached by the Republican establishment in Pennsylvania to try and run in next year's election. A GOP strategist tells Bash that while it would be a struggle to encourage Ridge to run, the former governor did not close the door to the suggestion in his private conversation with top state Republicans.

"Gov. Tom Ridge is probably the only political figure in Pennsylvania who could give Sen. Arlen Specter a run for his money. But even if he gets a strong challenge from a Republican, Specter is still better off for having changed parties because he seemed headed to certain defeat had he stayed a Republican and faced Toomey in a primary," says Clay Richards, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
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Sen. Arlen Specter had already begun releasing campaign ads targeting Pat Toomey before the former congressman made his announcement official.

(CNN) - It's official. Former Rep. Pat Toomey is challenging Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter for his Senate seat, again.

Toomey formally announced his 2010 Senate bid Wednesday, the second time he will challenge the incumbent Pennsylvania senator after running an unsuccessful primary campaign against him in 2004.

"I'm running against Arlen Specter in the Republican primary because we need a new direction and positive solutions," Toomey says on his campaign website, ToomeyForSenate.com.

Toomey announced Monday he would begin taking steps to challenge Specter, but formally announced his candidacy Wednesday. Specter had already begun releasing campaign ads targeting his opponent before the former congressman made his announcement official.

Toomey's replacement at the head of the limited-government, anti-tax Club for Growth is former Rep. Chris Chocola. The new president announced Wednesday the group was making its first two Senate endorsements of the 2010 cycle, backing incumbent Republicans Jim DeMint and Tom Coburn.

Sen. John Cornyn's emphasis on needing Specter to help deny Democratic senators a filibuster proof majority is an unexpected one.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – The Republican senator charged with overseeing the 2010 elections endorsed Sen. Arlen Specter for re-election in a letter sent to Pennsylvania Republicans last month.

The March 26 letter was made public Tuesday, one day after former Rep. Pat Toomey announced he would challenge Specter again for the Republican Senate nomination. Toomey, who is considered to be more conservative than Specter, unsuccessfully ran a primary campaign against the incumbent senator in 2004.

"As I survey the political landscape of the upcoming 2010 elections, it's clear we need more candidates that fit their states," Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, wrote in the letter. "While I doubt Arlen could win an election in my home state of Texas, I am certain that I could not get elected in Pennsylvania. I believe that Senator Specter is our best bet to keep this Senate seat in the GOP column.

"A vote for Arlen Specter is a vote for denying Harry Reid and the Democrats a filibuster-proof Senate," added Cornyn, who is the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Cornyn's emphasis on needing Specter to help deny Democratic senators a filibuster proof majority is interesting. Specter is considered by many to be a soft Republican vote in helping the GOP use the filibuster as a tool to block Democrats on some issues this year.

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Sen. Arlen Specter is facing another challenge from Pat Toomey.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Former Rep. Pat Toomey announced Monday he is taking steps to challenge incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter in 2010, setting up a primary rematch between the two Republicans with ideological differences.

“Very soon, I intend to announce my candidacy for the United States Senate in a Republican primary challenge against Arlen Specter,” Toomey said in an e-mail Monday to members of the Club for Growth, telling them of his decision to resign as president of the organization.

Toomey, who unsuccessfully ran against Specter in 2004, criticized his fellow Republican for supporting the “liberal agenda” because he did not help the GOP minority uphold the filibuster on every issue. “I personally believe that it is time for him to go,” Toomey wrote in the e-mail.

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Sen. Arlen Specter's campaign manager sent a letter to potential challenger Pat Toomey.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – There are no officially-announced GOP challengers to Sen. Arlen Specter just yet - but the fight for the 2010 Republican primary in Pennsylvania is already turning brutal.

Specter's campaign manager, Christopher Nicholas, sent a letter to Club for Growth President Pat Toomey on Monday asking that he release the name of the organization members receiving federal bailout money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

"Senator Specter's campaign will not engage in reciprocal name calling with you. All we want are the facts," Nicholas said in the letter.

Nicholas added, "If you again refuse, the next question is, what do you have to hide?"

Last week, Specter released an ad trying to highlight Toomey's ties to Wall Street and said that while he worked as a trader, he sold the same "risky derivatives" that "have now plunged us into this financial mess."

Toomey, who has been critical of Specter's support for Obama's stimulus plan, has strongly hinted that he will run for Senate in 2010, but hasn't officially made an announcement yet. He narrowly lost a 2004 primary challenge for Specter's seat.

Sen. Arlen Specter is out with a new ad.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Sen. Arlen Specter is wasting no time trying to get the upper hand in what might be a bloody 2010 Senate Republican primary battle.

The Pennsylvania senator is airing a new 30-second television ad that targets fellow Republican Pat Toomey, who challenged Specter in the 2004 GOP primary but hasn't yet announced a 2010 run.

"Toomey has been attacking Sen. Specter non-stop for the last six weeks, so we decided to reply," Specter campaign manager Christopher Nicholas told CNN about Specter's early bird strategy.

As the nation continues to battle a recession, the spot focuses on Toomey's background as a Wall Street trader and his views on financial and economic policy matters.

Entitled "Bonus," the new ad began airing Thursday on cable networks across Pennsylvania. It is supported by $100,000 ad buy, according to Nicholas.

A Quinnipiac University survey of registered Pennsylvania voters released last week suggested Specter trails Toomey in a hypothetical Republican primary matchup by a 41 to 27 percent margin, with 28 percent unsure. But a Franklin and Marshall College poll released the same day indicates that Specter leads Toomey 33 percent to 18 percent, with 7 percent for other candidates and 42 percent unsure. While the Franklin and Marshall survey suggests that Specter leads in the matchup, 51 percent of Republicans questioned in that poll believe its time for a change rather than see Specter re-elected.

(Full script after the jump)

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Specter may face a tough primary battle.

(CNN) - Club for Growth President Pat Toomey, who has been critical of Sen. Arlen Specter's support for President Obama's stimulus plan, appears to be inching closer to a primary re-match against the Republican incumbent.

"As this disastrous recession worsens, I have become increasingly concerned about the future of our state and national economy," he said in a statement released Monday afternoon. "Unfortunately, the recent extraordinary response of the federal government - more corporate bailouts, unprecedented spending and debt, higher taxes - is likely to make things worse. I think we are on a dangerously wrong path. Pennsylvanians want a US Senator focused on real and sustainable job creation that gets our economy growing again. That is why I am considering becoming a candidate for the US Senate."

In 2004, Specter survived a tough challenge from then-Rep. Toomey, beating him by less than 2 percentage points thanks to support from President Bush and then-Sen. Rick Santorum. Toomey has been hinting at a 2010 Senate bid for months, calling Specter far more vulnerable than he was four years ago, but has not said when he might make an official announcement.

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