Editing Arlen Specter (section)

===2004 campaign===
{{Main|2004 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania}}

In 2004, Specter faced a challenge in the Republican [[Partisan primary|primary election]] from conservative Congressman [[Pat Toomey]], whose campaign theme was that Specter was not conservative enough. The match-up was closely watched nationally, being seen as a symbolic clash between the conservative and moderate wings of the Republican Party. However, most of the state and national Republican establishment, including the state's other senator at the time, [[Rick Santorum]], closed ranks behind Specter. Specter was supported by President [[George W. Bush]]. Specter narrowly avoided a major upset with 51% of the primary vote. Once Specter defeated the challenge from the right, he was able to enjoy great support from independents and some Democrats in his race against [[U.S. Representative]] [[Joe Hoeffel]], the Democratic nominee.<ref>{{cite web|last=Sabato|first=Larry J.|title=Republican Specter defends his seat against Joe Hoeffel|url=http://www.centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/article.php?id=SPA2004102201|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080213062620/http://www.centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/article.php?id=SPA2004102201|archive-date=February 13, 2008|work=Crystal Ball|publisher=[[University of Virginia]]|author-link=Larry J. Sabato|date=October 22, 2004|access-date=April 30, 2009}}</ref> Hoeffel trailed Specter in name recognition, campaign funds, and poll results.<ref>{{cite news|last=Samad |first=Farouk |title=Hoeffel trails Specter by large margin in Senate race |url=http://media.www.dailypennsylvanian.com/media/storage/paper882/news/2004/09/27/News/Hoeffel.Trails.Specter.By.Large.Margin.In.Senate.Race-2150770.shtml |work=The Daily Pennsylvanian |date=September 27, 2004 |access-date=April 30, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090504141851/http://media.www.dailypennsylvanian.com/media/storage/paper882/news/2004/09/27/News/Hoeffel.Trails.Specter.By.Large.Margin.In.Senate.Race-2150770.shtml |archive-date=May 4, 2009 }}</ref> Although the two minor candidates in the race were seen as more conservative than Specter, they were only able to take 5.39 percent of the vote, and Specter was easily re-elected.