Specter Cruises to Victory and Fifth Senate Term
November 2, 2004
Pennsylvania voters lived up to predictions and backed incumbent Arlen Specter, reelecting him to the Senate for a fifth term.

Specter vanquished three-term Rep. Joe Hoeffel in a fractious and sometimes personal race. Through most of the campaign, Hoeffel had struggled to gain name recognition, but spurred by Sen. John Kerry's heavy campaigning in the battleground state he had managed to close the gap with Specter for a time.

Specter's victory was attributed to his ability to appeal across party lines and his seniority in the Senate.

Specter Appears Headed for Fifth Term; Hoeffel Eyes Turnout
November 1, 2004
Pennsylvania is one of the critical presidential battlegrounds, but in the fight for the U.S. Senate, incumbent Republican Arlen Specter appears poised to cruise to reelection.

According to recent polls, Specter, who has outspent every other senate candidate in the nation, was likely to garner the support of up to 20 percent of those voting for Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., helping give the four-term incumbent an apparently comfortable lead.

"Specter made the heavy television buys in the last two weeks and that made all the difference in the world," G. Terry Madonna, director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin and Marshall College, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

U.S. Rep. Joseph Hoeffel, who has been outspent heavily in the race, continued to struggle to gain name recognition. The same survey indicated up to one-third of likely voters could not identify the Philadelphia-area Democrat.

Hoeffel maintains that the support for Specter, hovering barely above 50 percent, meant an upset was still possible.

"Senator Specter has not put this election away," Hoeffel said. "He needs to be higher than that [50 percent] to survive what should be a Democratic wave on Tuesday with more straight-party voting than you may have seen in 25 to 30 years."

Papers Back Specter as Third Party Candidate Gains Steam
October 21, 2004
Update: Arlen Specter, running for a historic fifth term to represent Pennsylvania in the Senate, has racked up a series of somewhat lukewarm endorsements from the state's major newspapers, but has seen his lead in the race dwindle as he faces a strong challenge from US Rep. Joe Hoeffel and a relative unknown conservative attorney from Lancaster, Pa.

Specter, Hoeffel Come Out Firing in First Debate
October 4, 2004
Update: In a heated, and at times personal, series of exchanges, four-term Senator Arlen Specter and challenger US Rep. Joe Hoeffel took aim at one another's records on Saturday in the first of two televised debates.

Hoeffel Hopes for Coattails as Specter Rakes in Endorsements
September 20, 2004
Update: In Pennsylvania, John Kerry appears to have two running mates, his vice presidential pick Sen. John Edwards and this year's Democratic Senate nominee U.S. Rep. Joe Hoeffel. Hoeffel, who is hoping to oust four-term Sen. Arlen Specter, has appeared at nearly every rally with the Democratic nominees throughout the Keystone State.