U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter early today claimed an agonizingly narrow victory over his conservative challenger, Rep. Pat Toomey, after a bitter ideological battle in which each had painted the other as outside the Republican mainstream.

John Beale, Post-Gazette

U.S. Senator Arlen Specter addresses supporters last night in Philadelphia after narrowly defeating U.S. Rep. Patrick Toomey in the Republican primary. Specter called for party unity behind the GOP ticket in the fall. MORE PRIMARY COVERAGE Corbett, Eisenhower win in attorney general race Incumbents victorious in state House races State House candidate an apparent suicide State Senate: Region's 7 incumbents win without a fight Referendum: Voters approve measure for sewer bond Access to polls is problematic for disabled voters Pa. presidential votes irrelevant now, not in November Election Day Photojournal: Before the polls closed Election Day Photojournal: After the polls closed My Point: David M. Shribman / Bad times, good turnout

At 12:45 a.m., after a long election night had turned to the next day, Toomey greeted his disappointed supporters and recounted his call of congratulation to Specter. Despite the rancor of their battle, Toomey offered his "unequivocal support,'' to the veteran he had come so close to toppling.

While acknowledging his abiding disagreements with the moderate who will be seeking a record fifth term in the Senate, the conservative Toomey said, "Our differences are not nearly as great as our differences with the Democrats.''

Moments later, to chants of "Ar-Len! AR-Len!" Specter appeared in the ballroom of the Park Hyatt Philadelphia Hotel.

"Thank you very much for your perseverance through a long evening and for your support during a very tough campaign," Specter told the crowd. "Now that we have settled our family disagreement," he continued, "it is time to unify the Republican Party and re-elect President Bush and maintain the Republican majority in the U.S. Senate."

With 98 percent of the vote in, the four-term incumbent led by only about 16,000 out of the total of 1 million counted.

Toomey, a three-term House member from Allentown, had based his nearly successful challenge on the contention that Specter was too liberal for the Republican Party. He attacked the incumbent as a big spender out of step with the party's positions on social issues including abortion. Toomey also reminded conservative Republicans of Specter's 1987 vote against the Supreme Court nomination of Robert Bork and his invocation of "Scottish law'' in voting "not proven'' in the impeachment trial of former President Bill Clinton.

Specter argued that his renomination would embody the "big tent'' school Republican politics, while his seniority would allow him to be an increasingly influential voice for Pennsylvania. With an overwhelmingly negative television advertising campaign, and the endlessly repeated slogan, "He's not far right; he's far out,'' Specter portrayed Toomey as a zealot out of step with the rest of his party.

Toomey's candidacy was a challenge not only to Specter, but also to the Republican establishment, from the White House on down. Bush campaigned personally for the four-term incumbent in a Pittsburgh appearance last week replayed across the state for days in Specter's final round of television commercials.

While Specter has not been the most reliable of Bush supporters in the Senate, White House allies, including Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, saw the moderate as a better tactical partner for the president in the fall election. With his regional and ideological appeal to moderate Republicans in the Philadelphia suburbs -- the bedrock of his victory yesterday -- the GOP hierarchy hopes that Specter will bolster Bush's chances in a state that he lost narrowly four years ago.

	Chris Gardner, Associated Press U.S. Rep. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., and his wife, Kris, appeared before supporters at his election night headquarters in Trexlertown early this morning as Toomey conceded his bid for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate to incumbent Arlen Specter. Click photo for larger image.

"I thank the president for his unwavering support and I thank Sen. Rick Santorum for solidly being in my corner," Specter said in his early-morning victory statement.

Toomey, whose anti-tax ardor stretches back to his first run for local office in Allentown, had his own conservative allies, however. The Club for Growth, a group of economic conservatives, poured some $2 million into the race, helping Toomey compenstate for the incumbent's huge advantage in campaign spending. Specter invested $10 million in the race, roughly three times the amount raised by Toomey. Club for Growth chief Stephen Moore said that Specter's scalp on the wall would be a cautionary lesson to other GOP moderates tempted to stray from conservative othodoxy.

The incumbent was the target of other national conservatives. In a harsh cover story last year, The National Review labeled him "the worst Republican senator. Conservatives including Steve Forbes, former Attorney General Ed Meese and Bork also campaigned and raised money for the challenger.

The bruising GOP race emboldened Democrats in their hopes of capturing a Pennsylvania Senate seat for the first time since the brief tenure of Harris Wofford ended in 1994. That prospect would be a crucial element in the party's hopes of regaining control of the U.S. Senate, now in GOP hands by the slender majority of 51 to 48.

Rep. Joseph Hoeffel, D-Montgomery County, who shares Specter's geographic base in the southeast corner of the state, won the Democratic nomination without opposition. The bitter and costly GOP race raised Democratic hopes that the GOP nominee would be vulnerable in the general election.

Hoeffel's fund raising, so far, has lagged far behind the Republicans. That could change quickly as national Democrats become galvanized by hopes of recapturing the Senate in November.

Sen. Jon Corzine, D-N.J., the head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, crowed in the final weeks that Toomey and Specter had battled so strenuously for the support of the most conservative voters that they would have a difficult task in moving back to the center to court the independent, swing voters crucial to a general election victory.

Specter opened the campaign with a daunting advantage in money and standing in public opinion polls. But Toomey's standing continued to climb through the final weeks of the campaign as he drove Specter's lead in the closing polls to within the margin of error.

As the results rolled in, each candidate did well in their political back yards. Specter, a former Philadelphia district attorney, had big margins in Philadelphia its Republican-rich surrounding counties.

Toomey led in the Lehigh Valley, the core of his congressional district. Less predictably, the challenger also amassed a strong lead in the Pittsburgh region, the base of Specter's colleague and ally, Santorum. Toomey won Allegheny County by a margin of 54 to 46 percent and also well ahead in Westmoreland County.

	John Heller, Post-Gazette Toomey supports Marlene Wohleber, of Bethel Park, left, and Mary Lou Gartner, of Penn Hills, watch results from Bridgeville as their candidate falls just short of unseating incumbent Arlen Specter. Click photo for larger image.

About 150 Toomey supporters rode last night's roller coaster at Callahan's Sports Grille in Bridgeville as results came in.

As their candidate drew to a near dead heat with Specter at about 10:45 p.m., a huge cheer went up among Toomey's supporters. They began jumping up and down, reciting "Hey Hey Ho Ho Arlen Specter's gotta go!"

About 90 minutes later, however, when Specter pulled ahead again, the crowd became more somber and began to filter away.

"Obviously we're a bit disappointed," Matt Blackburn, Toomey's campaign coordinator for Western and Central Pennsylvania, told the crowd.

"We've put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into this campaign over the past 14 months. We have nothing to be ashamed of, nothing at all."

Specter, 74, a former Democrat, came to the Republican Party after Philadelphia GOP leaders courted him as their candidate for district attorney in 1965. Before that the University of Pennsylvania and Yale law school graduate had been a staff member for the Warren Commission and earned notoriety as the author of the one-bullet-theory on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Toomey, 42, is a Harvard University graduate who, after an early career as a financial executive, moved to Allentown to open a restaurant business with family members.