Joe Sestak
Joe Sestak (b. December 12, 1951) is a former Democratic member of the U.S. House who represented Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District from 2007 to 2011. Sestak announced that he was running for president of the United States on June 23, 2019.[1] He suspended his presidential campaign on December 1, 2019.[2]
Sestak previously ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania in 2010 and 2016. He was defeated by Pat Toomey (R) in the 2010 general election and Katie McGinty in the 2016 Democratic primary. [3]
Biography
Sestak was born in 1951 and grew up in Pennsylvania. He received a bachelor's degree in American political systems from the United States Naval Academy and a master's in public administration and Ph.D. in political economy and government from Harvard University.[4]
Sestak served in the United States Navy from 1974 to 2006, retiring as a three-star admiral. In the Navy, Sestak served as deputy chief of naval operations for warfare requirements. From 1994 through 1997, he was director of defense policy for the National Security Council under President Bill Clinton (D). He served as commander of an aircraft carrier battle group during the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. He also directed Deep Blue, a Navy anti-terrorism strategy program, following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.[5][6]
In 2006, Sestak was elected to represent Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District, where he served until 2011.[7] He defeated 20-year incumbent Curt Weldon (R) in 2006 by a margin of 12 percentage points.[8]
Sestak ran to represent Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate in 2010 and 2016. In 2010, he defeated 30-year incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter, who had switched his affiliation from Republican to Democrat in 2009, in the Democratic primary. He lost the general election to Pat Toomey (R) by 2 percentage points. Sestak placed second in the 2016 Democratic primary, 10 percentage points behind Katie McGinty.
Education
- Cardinal O'Hara High School
- Bachelor's of Science - United States Naval Academy, 1974
- Master's in public administration - Harvard University
- Ph.D in political economy and government - Harvard University[9]
Elections
2020
Presidency
- See also: Presidential candidates, 2020
Former Vice President Joe Biden (D) won the presidential election on November 3, 2020. Biden received 306 electoral votes and President Donald Trump (R) received 232 electoral votes. In the national popular vote, Biden received 81.2 million votes and Trump received 74.2 million votes.
Sestak announced that he was running for president on June 23, 2019.[1] He suspended his presidential campaign on December 1, 2019.[10]
Ballotpedia compiled the following resources about Sestak and the 2020 presidential election:
- Recent news stories about the 2020 presidential election;
- An overview of key national and state campaign staffers;
- Endorsements from politicians, public figures, and organizations;
- An overview of candidate campaign travel; and
- A list of other presidential candidates who are running for election.
Click here for Joe Sestak's 2020 presidential campaign overview.
2016
The race for Pennsylvania's U.S. Senate seat was one of nine competitive battleground races in 2016 that helped Republicans keep control of the upper chamber after the November 8 general election. Incumbent Pat Toomey (R), who began serving in the Senate in 2011, defeated Katie McGinty (D), Edward Clifford III (L), and write-in candidate Everett Stern (I) in the general election.
Toomey ran his campaign separately from Donald Trump, and he did not tell people who he would vote for on Election Day. Toomey said, “You know, I’m not campaigning with Donald Trump. He’s running his campaign. I’m running mine.”[11][12][13]
Hillary Clinton, who campaigned with McGinty in October, criticized Toomey for not rejecting Trump as his party’s nominee. She said, “How much does he have to hear or to see? If he doesn’t have the courage to stand up against Donald Trump after all of this, then how will he stand up to special interests and powerful forces that are going to be trying to have their way in Washington?”[13]
Speaking about his campaign strategy, Toomey said, “I am convinced that Pennsylvania voters are going to make a complete separation in their minds. … There’s a presidential race going on, quite obviously, lots of attention, lots of focus, everybody’s got their opinion about it, and then there’s a totally separate thing happening in the Senate race — an incumbent senator most people know and an opponent. Totally separate campaign and totally separate judgment.”[13] Toomey stated on Election Day that he voted for Trump.[14]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican |  Pat Toomey Incumbent |
48.8% | 2,951,702 | |
| Democratic | Katie McGinty | 47.3% | 2,865,012 | |
| Libertarian | Edward Clifford | 3.9% | 235,142 | |
| Total Votes | 6,051,856 | |||
| Source: Pennsylvania Department of State | ||||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Katie McGinty |
42.5% | 669,774 | ||
| Joe Sestak | 32.6% | 513,221 | ||
| John Fetterman | 19.5% | 307,090 | ||
| Joseph Vodvarka | 5.4% | 85,837 | ||
| Total Votes | 1,575,922 | |||
| Source: Pennsylvania Department of State |
||||
Polls
| U.S. Senate race 2016 - Hypothetical match-up poll | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Joe Sestak | Pat Toomey | Undecided | Margin of Error | Sample Size | ||||||||||||||
| Quinnipiac University Poll (May 30-June 4, 2013) | 37% | 42% | 19% | +/-3.1 | 1,032 | ||||||||||||||
| Note: A "0%" finding means the candidate was not a part of the poll. The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org | |||||||||||||||||||
2014
Sestak was considered a likely Democratic candidate for the 2014 gubernatorial election in Pennsylvania, but he ultimately decided to pass on the race for a chance at the U.S. Senate in 2016.[15][3][16]
2010
Sestak ran for United States Senate in 2010. He was defeated by Pat Toomey (R) in the general election on November 2, 2010.[17]
| U.S. Senate, Pennsylvania General Election, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Pat Toomey |
51% | 2,028,945 | |
| Democratic | Joe Sestak | 49% | 1,948,716 | |
| Total Votes | 3,977,661 | |||
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
- Democratic presidential nomination, 2020
- United States Senate election in Pennsylvania, 2016
- United States Senate
- Pat Toomey
- State executive official elections, 2014
- Governor of Pennsylvania
- Tom Corbett
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 CBS News, "Joe Sestak, former congressman and 3-star admiral, joins 2020 presidential race," June 23, 2019
- ↑ Politico, "Joe Sestak ends 2020 presidential bid," accessed December 1, 2019
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Morning Call, "Qpoll: Pawlowski, Sestak top potential Dem challengers against Corbett," March 13, 2013
- ↑ Vote Smart, "Joe Sestak, Jr.'s Biography," accessed July 10, 2019
- ↑ The New York Times, "Joe Sestak, Former Pennsylvania Congressman, Becomes the 24th Democratic Candidate for President," June 23, 2019
- ↑ Heavy, "Joe Sestak: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know," July 1, 2019
- ↑ Facebook, "Joe Sestak - About," accessed April 24, 2013
- ↑ CNN, "Ameria Votes 2006: U.S. House of Representatives," accessed July 10, 2019
- ↑ Facebook: Joe Sestak, "About," accessed March 19, 2013
- ↑ CNN, "Joe Sestak ends long-shot 2020 Democratic presidential campaign," December 1, 2019
- ↑ Real Clear Politics, "Pennsylvania: Trump vs. Clinton vs. Johnson vs. Stein," accessed October 24, 2016
- ↑ Real Clear Politics, "Pennsylvania Senate - Toomey vs. McGinty," accessed October 24, 2016
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 The Los Angeles Times, "A Republican Senator's strategy to save his seat in one of the country's tightest races: Avoid Trump," accessed October 24, 2016
- ↑ The New York Times, "Patrick Toomey Wins Re-election in Pennsylvania Senate Race," accessed November 11, 2016
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedhangergov - ↑ Trib Live, "Sestak rules out run for governor in 2014, eyes rematch with Toomey," May 14, 2013
- ↑ Pennsylvania Department of State, " 2010 general election – United States Senate," accessed April 24, 2013
