U.S. SENATE Clymer hopes to give Sen. Specter a challenge

He must have at least 25,697 valid signatures to qualify.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The national chairman of the Constitution Party said he filed more than 35,000 signatures Monday to get on Pennsylvania's ballot for the U.S. Senate, all but certainly pitting Sen. Arlen Specter against another conservative challenger this year.
In an unusual cross-party display of animosity against Specter, R-Pa., volunteers for Democratic candidate Rep. Joe Hoeffel helped Constitution Party chairman Jim Clymer collect enough signatures to quality for the ballot.
Democrats have long hoped that Clymer would enter the race, pulling Republican support from Specter and boosting Hoeffel's chances of winning the Nov. 2 election. But Clymer said he expects to have support from Republicans and Democrats who oppose abortion rights -- a main plank of his campaign.
"I just don't believe the people of Pennsylvania agree with their views on a number of issues," Clymer, 56, said. "On the issues of jobs, trade, immigration, a runaway judiciary, runaway spending -- I think all those issues, Specter and Mr. Hoeffel are on the same side. And I think they're at odds with what a majority Pennsylvanians believe is right."
Specter, a moderate Republican, barely survived a primary challenge this spring against conservative Rep. Pat Toomey. He won by 12,603 votes -- the closest challenge of his Senate career.
Signatures
Pennsylvania's elections board was in the process of certifying Clymer's petitions Monday. He must have at least 25,697 valid signatures from registered Pennsylvania voters to qualify. Any legal challenges to Clymer's petitions must be filed by Aug. 9.
But Specter campaign manager Christopher Nicholas said the senator's campaign has no plans to challenge Clymer's petitions. Nicholas also said he was not surprised to learn that Hoeffel's camp had helped Clymer.
"This is a clear admission by Joe Hoeffel that he does not think he's strong enough to compete with Senator Specter one-on-one," Nicholas said.
Hoeffel spokeswoman Kristin Carvell said that "no paid employees" of the Democrat's campaign helped Clymer, but would not deny that volunteers did.
"It's clear that there are a lot of folks even in his own party who don't want to see Specter re-elected, and I would imagine many of them have been out there working hard to get Clymer on the ballot," she said.
Specter has survived tough three-way elections in the past: in 1992, he won a third term with 49 percent of the vote against Democrat Lynn Yeakel and Libertarian Party candidate John Perry.
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