Poll: Sen. Specter's lead has vanished

HAMDEN, Conn., July 22 (UPI) -- U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., who switched parties a few months ago, is in a tie with his likely Republican challenger, a poll released Wednesday said.

The Quinnipiac Poll found that 45 percent of those surveyed said they support Specter for re-election next year while 44 percent back former Congressman Pat Toomey. A plurality, 49 percent, said Specter does not deserve another term in the Senate while 40 percent said he does.

"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. Independent voters have shifted narrowly to Toomey 46 - 42 percent and say 53 - 35 percent that Specter does not deserve reelection."

The big unknown is that more than half of those surveyed said they do not know enough about Toomey to have an opinion.

Quinnipiac surveyed 1,173 Pennsylvania voters between July 14 and July 19. The poll's margin of error is 2.9 percent.