Joe Sestak ends longshot campaign for Dem prez nod
Former Delaware County Congressman and retired Navy Admiral Joe Sestak pulled the plug on his longshot campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination Sunday.
Sestak, who once represented the 7th District in Congress and twice ran for the Senate, made the announcement on his campaign website.
“I want to thank you for the honor of running for president of the United States of America,” Sestak told his supporters. “It has been an endeavor filled with immeasurable wisdom, passions, humor and insights to, and from, the people of America. I have ‘lived America’ … and will cherish every moment, whether a veteran from a maximum security penitentiary calling to say, ‘Hey, Joe, the guys have heard you’re running for President, and they want you to know they’re going to organize Philadelphia for you,’ or the tears of a transgender youth as she quietly told me she just wants what everybody else wants. I could never pay enough for what I experienced, and the men and women I met.”
Sestak failed to grain traction in polls in a crowded Democratic field, despite his trademark push of actually walking across areas where he was campaigning, greeting voters face-to-face.
In 2006 Sestak, 67, was elected to Congress in the 7th District, including most of Delaware County, in the process upsetting 10-term incumbent Republican Rep. Curt Weldon. He served two terms in Congress and then twice ran for Senate, going against the wishes of Democratic party bosses and beating incumbent Republican-turned Democrat Sen. Arlen Specter in the 2010 primary. He lost the general election to Republican Pat Toomey. In 2016 he ran again, losing a primary fight to Katie McGinty, who also was defeated by Toomey.
Sestak was a late entrant to the Democratic field, the 24th candidate to seek the party’s nod when he announced back in June.
The former congressman said he wanted to be a president “who serves the American people the way they deserve to be served.” He kicked off his campaign with a video describing himself as “Admiral Joe,” a reference to his career as a three-star admiral in the Navy. He immediately hit the ground campaigning in Iowa, but his push never caught on with voters.
Sestak earned a reputation as a maverick when he defied Democratic Party leaders who wanted him to step aside to clear the path to the nomination for Specter, the longtime moderate Republican who switched parties after it became apparent that was going to face a primary challenge from the conservative wing of the party. Specter immediately was backed by the state Democratic powers. But Sestak resisted calls from party leadership to step aside.
Sestak, a former admiral in the U.S. Navy, was highly critical of President Barack Obama and Gov. Ed Rendell, who quickly lined up behind the party-switching Specter.
In his statement Sunday, Sestak thanked his supporters and vowed to continue the fight to heal the nation, while ending his official campaign.
“It’s a marvelous fabric we Americans have woven together throughout the centuries,” Sestak said. “I know there is a tear in that fabric right now, but it can be repaired by someone who can lead, and therefore unite, all Americans. It’s been done before, beginning with the best, George Washington, as he lay on the ground after battle to sleep in a cloak together with his men even before he was a President who united America.
“A moral compass for our great ship of state is the beacon most needed today. And it is for the Captain of State who offers it that all Americans will provide the fair winds and following seas to advance us. That is necessary for us both at home and abroad, to convene the world to advance our policies and commitment to democratic values for our collective good.”