Sen. Arlen Specter (D) was expected to be a candidate in this race. Facing a Republican primary challenge from Mr. Toomey in early 2009 (the second such effort by Toomey in two election cycles), Mr. Specter switched parties and immediately gained the backing of the national Democratic party. Mr. Sestak, who was thinking about running against Specter in the general election, refused to bow out and ended up defeating Specter in the Democratic primary. Meanwhile, Toomey cruised to the Republican nomination and now holds a lead in the polls over Sestak, a former admiral.
Despite voting for the Democratic presidential candidate in every election since 1992, Pennsylvania still has a reputation as a swing state, and Republicans are counting on victory in the Keystone State to help make a dent in the Democrats’ Senate majority. They will count out Sestak at their peril, though; he trailed Specter in polls up until the last minute and then trounced the five-term senator in the primary.
