Panic mode starts . . . now
A third poll has confirmed Joe Sestak's surge in the US Senate race, though in this one Pat Toomey holds on to a bare 2-point advantage.
Here's our breaking news story on the latest Quinnipiac poll:
The race for Pennsylvania's U.S. Senate seat is a statistical dead heat, according to a poll released early Thursday morning.
The latest Quinnipiac University poll show Republican Pat Toomey getting 48 percent of likely voters to 46 percent for Democratic U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak. In the Sept. 22 poll, Mr. Toomey held a 50-43 percent edge over Mr. Sestak.
The poll shows Mr. Toomey holding an 88-8 percent edge among Republicans and 56-35 percent margin among independent voters. Mr. Sestak, though, is winning 89 -7 percent among Democrats. Thirteen percent of Mr. Toomey's voters and nine percent of Mr. Sestak's backers say they might change their mind before Election Day.
A gender gap is evident in the race. Mr. Toomey is leading 54-40 percent among men, but Mr. Sestak is in front, 53 -- 41 percent, among women.
From Oct. 13 through Sunday, Quinnipiac University polled 1,046 Pennsylvania likely voters, with a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points.
Full poll details here.