It’s worth noting, Republican-turned-Democrat Arlen Specter easily received the Party endorsement over Sestak in 2010.
In addition, The Hill investigated turmoil within Senate primaries, paying special attention to Pennsylvania.
This followed a brutal story on Friday showing the McGinty campaign in full-blown panic mode.
Here’s a snapshot of Katie McGinty’s rough weekend:
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“I asked her [McGinty] about recent remarks from her campaign chairman, Ed Rendell. Ed told the Inquirer’s Jonathan Tamari that McGinty ‘won’t win’ without $3.5 million to $4 million in TV ads, but that if she musters that amount, ‘I think she will win.’ Talk about a ringing endorsement. But the it’s-always-sunny-everywhere McGinty smiled and told me, ‘He meant well.’ I bet her Irish eyes weren’t smiling at the time.” (John Baer, “Pa. Dems and a Saturday lost,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, (3/7/16)
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“Former party Chairman Jim Burn, however, suggested that McGinty’s strong establishment support, including backing by Wolf and U.S. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, was not translating well to the party’s ground-level activists and workers. ‘You would think that it’d mean that she should have gotten two-thirds,’ Burn said. ‘She should have shut [Sestak] out.’" (Marc Levy, “State Democrats divided in high-profile primary races,” AP, 3/5/16)
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“A Franklin & Marshall College poll last month showed Sestak with a big lead over McGinty, scoring 21 percent support among Democratic primary voters, compared with 12 percent for McGinty.” (Alexander Bolton, “Anti-establishment mood roils Senate Democratic primaries,” The Hill, 3/6/16)
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“Pennsylvania’s Democratic Party committee members went through a divisive process of buttonholing, cajoling and promising on Saturday but ultimately could not deliver endorsements in contested primary races for U.S. senator and state attorney general.” (Marc Levy, “State Democrats divided in high-profile primary races,” AP, 3/5/16)
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“McGinty trails Sestak (who lost to Toomey last time) in public polls. She couldn’t get enough votes to be endorsed.” (John Baer, “Pa. Dems and a Saturday lost,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, (3/7/16)
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“McGinty has an uphill climb to close the gap by the April 26 primary. Her allies told The Philadelphia Inquirer this week she will need outside groups to spend heavily on her behalf over the next seven weeks.” (Alexander Bolton, “Anti-establishment mood roils Senate Democratic primaries,” The Hill, 3/6/16)
- “U.S. Senate candidate Katie McGinty garnered more votes than Joe Sestak but neither received sufficient support from the Pennsylvania Democratic State Committee on Saturday for an endorsement.” (Brad Bumsted, “Pa. Dems decline to endorse U.S. Senate, AG candidates,” TribLive, 3/5/16)