Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) still won’t say whom he’ll support for president, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
“Toomey’s dilemma, with just four weeks to go until Election Day, reflects the way Trump has engulfed the political landscape and left Republicans flailing in his wake as his poll numbers plunge.”
Pennsylvania U.S. Senate candidate Katie McGinty (D) “found herself explaining an often-repeated line from the campaign trail after questions were raised about whether she was in fact the first in her family to go to a four-year college,” the Allentown Morning Call reports.
“She has described herself during the campaign both as the first in her family to go to college, and as the first in her family to go to a four-year college.”
But BuzzFeed discovered her older brother, John P. McGinty, earned a bachelor’s degree, and later a master’s degree.
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A new Quinnipiac poll finds Sen. Pat Toomey (R) beating Joe Sestak (D) in a U.S. Senate match up, 48% to 33%, and topping Katie McGinty (D), 48% to 32%.
Katie McGinty (D) will resign her position as chief of staff to Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) in preparation to run for the U.S. Senate, National Journal reports.
“McGinty’s entrance would be a major victory for Democrats in Washington, who have scoured Pennsylvania looking for a top-tier candidate in what should be a politically-crucial Senate battleground in 2016. Party leaders are wary about the only Democrat in the race, former Rep. Joe Sestak, concerned that his unwillingness to listen to strategic advice could cost them a winnable race against the well-entrenched Toomey.”
Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski (D) suspended his campaign for the U.S. Senate, four days after FBI agents executed search warrants at Allentown City Hall, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
A new Franklin & Marshall poll in Pennsylvania finds Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) leads challenger Joe Sestak (D) by just four points, 35% to 31% — within the poll’s margin of error — though 34% of voters remain undecided.
A new Robert Morris University poll in Pennsylvania shows Joe Sestak (D) leading Sen. Pat Toomey (R), 34% to 28%, but with an even larger percentage of undecided voters.
Said pollster Philip Harold: “People are just disengaged. It’s like asking someone what they’re going to have for breakfast 100 days from now.”
Despite his weak approval rating, a new Public Policy Polling survey finds Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) still leads half a dozen potential Democratic rivals by anywhere from 4 to 11 points.
The Democrat who comes closest to Toomey is 2010 candidate Joe Sestak (D), who trails by 4 points at 42% to 38%.
Josh Shapiro (D) has told national Democratic Party leaders that he will not run for the nomination to challenge Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) next year, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
“Senior Democrats had been encouraging Shapiro to jump into the primary against Joe Sestak, a retired Navy rear admiral and former Delaware County congressman who lost a close race to Toomey in 2010 but who also has a strained relationship with members of the party establishment.”
A new Harper Polling survey in Pennsylvania finds Sen. Pat Toomey (R) with large leads over three possible Democratic challengers.
Toomey leads Ed Pawlowski (D), 54% to 30%, tops Jos Sestak (D), 53% to 32%, and beats Josh Shapiro (D), 55% to 27%.
Top Democrats are pressuring Josh Shapiro (D) to run for the U.S. Senate, “a reflection of the party’s unease with second-time candidate, Joe Sestak (D),” the AP reports.
“Two people familiar with the discussions told The Associated Press this week that Democratic Senate leaders, including New York’s Chuck Schumer and the head of the Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, Montana’s Jon Tester, have spoken with Shapiro.”
A new Quinnipiac poll in Pennsylvania finds Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) with a 13 point edge over potential challenger Joe Sestak (D), 48% to 35%.
“Toomey’s job approval rating stood at 49 – 24, and 44 percent of voters see him favorably, compared to 23 percent who view him unfavorably. Sestak’s favorability was at 24-14, but 61 percent didn’t know enough about him to form an opinion.”
“Anxious about a candidate considered to be an unreliable maverick and a political liability, Democratic Party leaders have undertaken a quiet, intensive search in recent months to recruit a serious primary challenger to former Rep. Joe Sestak, the party’s Senate nominee in 2010 who is again running for the seat,” National Journal reports.
“The effort has involved former congressman, state senators, county leaders and, recently, even a prominent district attorney. Their anxieties are being driven by party officials, who are concerned that Sestak could cost Democrats a must-win state in 2016. They’ve yet to turn up a successful alternative, but in their telling, it’s only a matter of time before a new challenger—one with the backing of the party establishment—enters the race.”
A new Quinnipiac poll in Pennsylvania finds Sen. Pat Toomey (R) well ahead of likely challenger Joe Sestak (D) in the U.S. Senate race, 45% to 35%,
A new Public Policy Polling survey in Pennsylvania finds the U.S. Senate race is picking up pretty much where the 2010 Senate race left off with Sen. Pat Toomey (R) holding a narrow edge over challenger Joe Sestak (D), 40% to 36%.
Former Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA) “never really stopped running against Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) after his narrow 2010 loss,” The Hill reports.
“Sestak announced in 2013 that he was already seeking another shot against Toomey. The former congressman has remained active in Pennsylvania politics since his loss, helping Democrats locally and statewide. And his strong, early signals that he would run again might have helped scare off many other potential opponents.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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