Toomey launches Senate reelection bid

U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey launched his bid for a second term Sunday, ahead in the polling and in campaign fund-raising but predicting a tough fight.

Toomey, a Republican from Lehigh County, made his pitch to cheering supporters in a King of Prussia campaign rally, 14 months before the November 2016 general election.

He aired his first campaign commercial on June 30.

Toomey's race is drawing national attention from the Republican and Democratic Parties and their well-funded allies.

Republicans gained control of the Senate in the 2014 midterm elections and hope to hold it during next year's presidential election. Democrats are aiming to hold onto the White House and recapture the Senate.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Club for Growth, a conservative fiscal group Toomey, 53, once led, are already spending money to support his reelection.

Emily's List and Planned Parenthood have launched campaigns to try to unseat Toomey.

Two Democrats - former U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak and Katie McGinty, who ran for governor last year - are seeking their party's nomination in the April 26 primary election.

A third, John Fetterman, the mayor of Braddock, Pa., plans to enter the race Monday.

Toomey's event was carefully crafted to present him as a statesman with a "commonsense view" who works to find bipartisan solutions, according to a video played for the crowd before he spoke.

That video contrasted Toomey's calm demeanor with the raucous relations between Democrats and Republicans in Congress and stressed his conservative record and views on fiscal policy.

The speakers who introduced Toomey also seemed specifically chosen to show broad support.

Lorenzo North, leader of the unionized correctional officers in Philadelphia, led the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance before John McNesby, leader of the Fraternal Order of Police in Philadelphia, spoke of Toomey's support for law enforcement.

Chris Gheysens, CEO of Wawa, and David Taylor, president of the Pennsylvania Manufacturers' Association, spoke of Toomey's work to help businesses in the state navigate burdensome federal regulations.

Toomey, who served in the U.S. House from 1999 to 2004, told the crowd he now serves as "the point guy in the Senate, fighting crony capitalism and corporate welfare."

His speech pivoted from bipartisanship to touch on key current topics that rile conservatives, noting that security issues in America and abroad take up more of his time than he had previously expected.

He complained that police officers are being "unfairly maligned and scapegoated," a clear reference to protests resulting from recent high-profile deaths of unarmed individuals.

He also denounced the Iran nuclear deal by the Obama administration as "shockingly terrible and dangerous." An effort last week in the Senate to derail that deal failed.

Toomey holds a strong financial lead in the race for Senate. He had $8.3 million in the bank as of June 30, according to campaign finance reports filed in mid-July.

Sestak, who ran against Toomey in 2010, had $2.2 million in the bank.

McGinty, who entered the Democratic primary on Aug. 4, has not filed a campaign report so far.