Missouri

Kerry following Cheney with Westminster visit

John Kerry will speak Friday at Westminster College in Fulton, after Vice President Dick Cheney’s sharp criticism of the Democratic presidential candidate prompted the school president to offer Kerry an opportunity for rebuttal.

Kerry accepted an invitation to speak from Westminster President Fletcher Lamkin, Kerry spokesman Bill Burton and college spokesman Mike Odneal said separately on Tuesday.

Lamkin said Monday he was inviting Kerry out of fairness following Cheney’s visit earlier that day to the college, where the school expected a “major foreign address” and instead heard Cheney question Kerry’s fitness to serve as president during wartime.

Kerry also will make a campaign stop Friday in St. Louis.

Philadelphia

Republican Specter narrowly wins primary

Moderate Republican Sen. Arlen Specter beat back a tough primary threat, barely defeating a conservative congressman who lacked support from party leaders but gained momentum by casting the four-term incumbent as too liberal.

Specter, 74, eked out a win Tuesday against Rep. Pat Toomey, 42, despite a low turnout among Pennsylvania’s 3.1 million registered Republicans that had been expected to aid the challenger.

With 98 percent of precincts reporting, Specter had 524,020 votes, or 51 percent, to Toomey’s 507,777 votes, or 49 percent.

The race, one of the GOP’s most closely watched contests this year, tested the strength of the party’s conservative wing.

Specter, of Philadelphia, will face Democratic Rep. Joe Hoeffel in the Nov. 2 election.