WASHINGTON, April 23 (UPI) -- U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., still leads challenger Pat Toomey in pre-primary polls, but one pollster says the race is up for grabs.
A survey of 500 likely voters in Tuesday's GOP primary has Specter, a moderate, ahead with 47 percent against 39 percent for Toomey, a conservative Republican congressman, when those who are leaning to one candidate or the other are factored in. The survey says 13 percent of the voters are undecided.
Kellyanne Conway, whose firm conducted the poll, said the high number of undecided among the likely voters in the closing days of the race should be of concern to Specter.
"Specter's ahead," Conway said, "but one wonders how a 24-year incumbent with a substantial war chest and 98 percent name identification has not yet captured a solid majority of support among Republicans."
Undecided voters who make up their minds late tend to break toward a non-incumbent rather than a political veteran. The winner of the GOP primary will face Democrat Joe Hoeffel in the November election.
The survey, conducted April 22 and 23, has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percent.
