The Times Leader reports:
Philadelphia civic leader Joe Torsella says he’ll seek the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate seat held by Republican Arlen Specter.
The 45-year-old Torsella is a former president of the National Constitution Center and the current chairman of the State Board of Education.
Torsella says he filed paperwork Monday to form a committee to raise and spend money, and that he will announce his candidacy in the weeks ahead.
Torsella last ran for public office in 2004 when he unsuccessfully challenged Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-PA) for an open House seat in the Democratic primary. He may now face her in a rematch in 2010, as Schwartz is reportedly pondering a Senate run herself.
Specter, who is notoriously moderate (and one of three Republicans to vote for the economic stimulus package), was expecting to face the conservative former Rep. Pat Toomey in the GOP primary. But Toomey announced last month that he would not be challenging Specter, thus freeing Specter from swerving to the right, which would have made him more vulnerable in the general election in an increasingly blue state.
Whether the Democratic nominee is Torsella or Schwartz or someone else, Specter is narrowly favored to win reelection and head back to the Senate for a sixth term, but he is certainly no shoo-in--even without a serious primary challenger.
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