Democrats are trying their best to find better options than Sestak, who already lost to Republican incumbent Senator Pat Toomey in 2010.
According to The Times-Tribune,
[Democrats] worry he will lose again if he is the party’s Senate nominee, even in a presidential election year expected to be more favorable to Democrats.
The National Journal reported T.J. Rooney – the Pennsylvania Democratic Party chairman when Sestak ran in 2010 – said,
“In my estimation, if Joe Sestak is the nominee in 2016 for U.S. Senate, we will once again lose to Pat Toomey.”
In 2010, Sestak went against Pennsylvania’s top Democrats and ran against their candidate, Arlen Specter. The National Journal said of 2010:
That year, against the advice of party leaders, he challenged the party-switching senator in the primary – and prevailed, even though President Obama, Gov. Ed Rendell, and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee were against him.
Leading Senate Democrats such as Minority Leader Harry Reid and the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee (DSCC) have been reportedly seeking out other candidates for 2016, but their first two choices turned the Senate bid down.
While Democrats do not believe Sestak has a shot at winning, they have yet to find a better candidate. The Times-Tribune went on to report that political analyst G. Terry Madonna, Ph.D. said:
“Democrats think it’s going to be an easy victory for them,” he said. “Except they haven’t found a candidate they like. They don’t like Sestak, there’s no doubt about that, but they haven’t found a top tier candidate.”
Sestak – despite being rejected by the Democratic establishment – remains Pennsylvania’s best hope for a win over Pat Toomey.
Things are looking good for Pat Toomey headed into 2016.