Sestak’s fundraising slows; campaign says $4.7M on hand

Congressman Joe Sestak’s (D-7) campaign said Thursday that it had raised $758,000 during the third quarter, signaling a slowdown in the Senate hopeful’s normally frenetic fundraising place and foreshadowing a difficult money race against Senator Arlen Specter.

Sestak had pIn characteristic form, Sestak’s campaign sought to immediately turn the focus back on Specter, noting that Specter has spent more than three times as much as Sestak during the cycle, while a href="http://www.pa2010.com/2009/10/new-poll-shows-specter-tied-with-toomey-but-losing-ground/" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.pa2010.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pa2010.com%2F2009%2F10%2Fnew-poll-shows-specter-tied-with-toomey-but-losing-ground%2F','the+longtime+incumbent%22s+poll+numbers+continue+to+slip')" target="_blank"the longtime incumbent’s poll numbers continue to slip/a./p
p“Even though he has spent that amount of money, Specter’s job approval has declined sharply,” the campaign said in an unusually terse statement./p
pa href="http://www.pa2010.com/2009/10/specter-has-8-7m-on-hand/" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.pa2010.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pa2010.com%2F2009%2F10%2Fspecter-has-8-7m-on-hand%2F','Specter+now+has+%248.7+million+on+hand')" target="_blank">Specter now has $8.7 million on hand, while …

October 15, 2009 at 3:44 pm | Comments (4)

Poll shows Sestak gaining on Specter

A new poll Thursday showed Congressman Joe Sestak (D-7) behind Senator Arlen Specter by the smallest margin to date, nipping at the longtime incumbent’s heels and trailing by less than the survey’s margin of error.

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October 15, 2009 at 11:44 am | Comments (9)

Funds hard to come by, Kortz is paying his own way

In his underdog campaign for Senate, state Representative Bill Kortz (D-Allegheny) has one big contributor: himself.

With money tough to scrounge up in a primary dominated by Arlen Specter and Joe Sestak, Kortz has been largely self-funding a bare-bones campaign—paying for travel expenses without reimbursements and loaning the campaign money while raising minimal amounts from local party committees in his district.

All in all, the campaign has raised only $4,400 throughout the election cycle, finishing …

October 15, 2009 at 9:34 am | Comments (5)

THE PRESS ROOM: Sestak’s latest PR tease, anonymous quote included, is quickly deflated

An occasional series of articles exploring how political campaigns are playing out in the media—in print, on the air, online and behind the scenes.

Even by the standards of Joe Sestak’s recent media-teasing, what the campaign tried to pull off Wednesday showed chutzpah. Late in the afternoon, the campaign e-mailed reporters boasting of a “special announcement” in which a “former Democratic challenger” would endorse the Senate hopeful.

“One of the few Democratic candidates to successfully …

October 14, 2009 at 9:47 pm | Comments (4)

Rasmussen: Toomey tops Specter by 5, but even with Sestak

Congressman Joe Sestak (D-7) has another piece of ammunition in his argument that he’s the better candidate to take on Republican Pat Toomey next year.

A Rasmussen poll released Wednesday showed Sestak in a dead heat with Toomey, leading by a statistically insignificant one percent. But Senator Arlen Specter trailed Toomey by five points in the same survey.

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October 14, 2009 at 6:20 pm | Comments (6)

Specter has $8.7M on hand

Senator Arlen Specter continues to raise money in bunches ahead of next year’s reelection fight, with his campaign saying Wednesday that it had raised $1.8 million dollars during the third quarter, finishing with a whopping $8.7 million in cash on hand.

Complete campaign finance reports won’t be published online until Thursday, but the campaign provided a copy of the summary sheet it had filed with the FEC, which shows that Specter has raised almost $12 …

October 14, 2009 at 5:08 pm | Comments (13)

New poll shows Specter tied with Toomey, but losing ground

Even while he remains neck-and-neck with Republican Pat Toomey, Senator Arlen Specter’s approval ratings are nearing dangerous lows ahead of next year’s election, according to a new poll.

The survey by Susquehanna Polling and Research, released Wednesday morning, showed Specter edging Toomey by a statistically insignificant one-point margin in a general election matchup, 42 percent to 41 percent. Twelve percent were undecided.

But more concerning for Specter, only 31 percent of voters think he deserves …

October 14, 2009 at 6:00 am | Comments (7)

New poll shows Specter and Sestak with narrow leads over Toomey

Both major Democratic candidates for Senate would narrowly defeat Republican Pat Toomey if next year’s general election were held today, according to a new poll.

The poll, commissioned by the Web site GrassrootsPA and conducted by Dane & Associates, found Congressman Joe Sestak (D-7) beating Toomey by five points, 43 percent to 38 percent, with 19 percent undecided. Senator Arlen Specter, meanwhile, would top Toomey 46 percent to 43 percent, with only 11 percent undecided.…

October 13, 2009 at 1:48 pm | Comments (12)

Romney calls Toomey ‘one of the heroes of American politics’

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney on Tuesday morning endorsed Republican Pat Toomey for Senate, further solidifying establishment Republican support behind the former congressman’s campaign.

Calling Toomey “one of the heroes” of American politics, Romney threw his support behind Toomey during an event in downtown Philadelphia.

“We need to have somebody who will stand for our allies,” Romney said, “who will stand for democracy and human values and human rights, and a person who will keep …

October 13, 2009 at 12:00 pm | Comments (2)

For Smith-Ribner, no formal announcement till later, but paperwork is ‘in the mail’

Retired state judge Doris Smith-Ribner says she doesn’t want to distract from next month’s general election, so don’t expect a formal announcement of …

October 9, 2009 at 11:42 pm | Comments (0)