SPOTLIGHT

Can Any Democrat Sink Sestak in Pennsylvania?

Democratic Rep. Joe Sestak of Pennsylvania
National Journal
Dec. 15, 2014, 6 a.m.

NEW YORK—Former Rep. Joe Ses­tak (D) and most of Pennsylvania’s power­ful Demo­crats don’t get along. (More bluntly: They hate each oth­er.) But right now, it doesn’t look like that will get in the way of Ses­tak be­ing the party’s Sen­ate nom­in­ee once again in 2016.

— Josh Sha­piro (D), a well-re­garded county com­mis­sion­er in the Phil­adelphia sub­urbs, was seen as the most likely Ses­tak primary chal­lenger. But spec­u­la­tion at the Pennsylvania So­ci­ety, an an­nu­al gath­er­ing of the state’s polit­ic­al elite in New York City, ran rampant that Sha­piro was eye­ing a run for at­tor­ney gen­er­al in­stead. (Sit­ting AG Kath­leen Kane (D) is the tar­get of a grand jury in­vest­ig­a­tion and, just a year after some were clam­or­ing for her to run for high­er of­fice, is widely seen as in­cap­able of win­ning reelec­tion against a Re­pub­lic­an.)

— If Sha­piro opts against a Sen­ate run, anti-Ses­tak Demo­crats don’t even have a short-list of pos­sible al­tern­at­ives. Like most states, the Demo­crat­ic bench in Pennsylvania has been taken apart. A few pos­sible chal­lengers — like Rep. Matt Cartwright (D) or out­go­ing Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D) — have already ruled out cam­paigns. Some of these Demo­crats re­main con­fid­ent they’ll find some­body even­tu­ally, but right now, they have no idea who.

— Don’t be sur­prised if Ses­tak’s al­lies start mak­ing pro­gress with the ar­gu­ment (one they’ve made privately in earn­est) that the 2010 Sen­ate nom­in­ee is the party’s best op­tion to take on Sen. Pat Toomey (R). Even some Re­pub­lic­ans privately ac­know­ledge that the one­time U.S. Navy ad­mir­al, who lost to Toomey by just two points in the 2010 GOP wave, still poses a real threat to the Re­pub­lic­an sen­at­or — es­pe­cially if Hil­lary Clin­ton were to carry Pennsylvania by a re­l­at­ively com­fort­able mar­gin in the pres­id­en­tial race. And while some power­ful donors and oth­er elec­ted of­fi­cials might not like Ses­tak, many voters do.

It’ll take a lot of work to con­vince some Demo­crats that Ses­tak should be the party’s stand­ard-bear­er in 2016. But those same Demo­crats bet­ter be open to the pos­sib­il­ity: They might not have an­oth­er choice.— Alex Roarty

What We're Following See More »
AVOIDS SHUTDOWN WITH A FEW HOURS TO SPARE
Trump Signs Border Deal
1 weeks ago
THE LATEST

"President Trump signed a sweeping spending bill Friday afternoon, averting another partial government shutdown. The action came after Trump had declared a national emergency in a move designed to circumvent Congress and build additional barriers at the southern border, where he said the United States faces 'an invasion of our country.'"

Source:
REDIRECTS $8 BILLION
Trump Declares National Emergency
1 weeks ago
THE DETAILS

"President Donald Trump on Friday declared a state of emergency on the southern border and immediately direct $8 billion to construct or repair as many as 234 miles of a border barrier. The move — which is sure to invite vigorous legal challenges from activists and government officials — comes after Trump failed to get the $5.7 billion he was seeking from lawmakers. Instead, Trump agreed to sign a deal that included just $1.375 for border security."

Source:
COULD SOW DIVISION AMONG REPUBLICANS
House Will Condemn Emergency Declaration
1 weeks ago
THE DETAILS

"House Democrats are gearing up to pass a joint resolution disapproving of President Trump’s emergency declaration to build his U.S.-Mexico border wall, a move that will force Senate Republicans to vote on a contentious issue that divides their party. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) said Thursday evening in an interview with The Washington Post that the House would take up the resolution in the coming days or weeks. The measure is expected to easily clear the Democratic-led House, and because it would be privileged, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) would be forced to put the resolution to a vote that he could lose."

Source:
MILITARY CONSTRUCTION, DRUG FORFEITURE FUND
Where Will the Emergency Money Come From?
1 weeks ago
THE DETAILS

"ABC News has learned the president plans to announce on Friday his intention to spend about $8 billion on the border wall with a mix of spending from Congressional appropriations approved Thursday night, executive action and an emergency declaration. A senior White House official familiar with the plan told ABC News that $1.375 billion would come from the spending bill Congress passed Thursday; $600 million would come from the Treasury Department's drug forfeiture fund; $2.5 billion would come from the Pentagon's drug interdiction program; and through an emergency declaration: $3.5 billion from the Pentagon's military construction budget."

Source:
TRUMP SAYS HE WILL SIGN
House Passes Funding Deal
1 weeks ago
THE DETAILS

"The House passed a massive border and budget bill that would avert a shutdown and keep the government funded through the end of September. The Senate passed the measure earlier Thursday. The bill provides $1.375 billion for fences, far short of the $5.7 billion President Trump had demanded to fund steel walls. But the president says he will sign the legislation, and instead seek to fund his border wall by declaring a national emergency."

Source:
×
×

Welcome to National Journal!

You are currently accessing National Journal from IP access. Please login to access this feature. If you have any questions, please contact your Dedicated Advisor.

Login