Rasmussen: Toomey pulls to lead over Sestak

Republican Pat Toomey has opened up a lead on Democrat Joe Sestak in the Senate race, 45 percent to 38 percent, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll released today.

The pollsters conclude that a Sestak bounce from his May 18 primary victory over Sen. Arlen Specter (D.,Pa.) appears to be over.

Twelve percent of likely voters in the survey were undecided while 5 percent said the preferred another candidate.

Rasmussen found that 19 percent of Democrats were undecided or preferred another candidate, compared to 7 percent of Republicans, suggesting that Sestak has some work to do to unite his party after a bruising campaign with the five-term Specter.

Results are based on a statewide poll of 500 likely voters on June 2, Rasmussen says. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.

Some polling experts dismiss Rasmussen because it uses an automated-response system to conduct its telephone interviews. Such a method does not adequately build a sample because there is no human being to screen who answers the push-button questions.

However, Rasmussen has often been right. The polling company, along with Boston's Suffolk University, were among the few who picked up the late-breaking trend toward Sestak in the Democratic primary.