2010 Democratic Senate nominee Joe Sestak
National Democrats haven't been doing much to hide how little they want 2010 nominee Joe Sestak to be their standard bearer again. There's a real fear that Sestak will run an undisciplined and amateurish campaign and cost Team Blue its chance to unseat Republican incumbent Pat Toomey. But so far, no one has stepped up to challenge Sestak in the primary besides Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski, who
suspended his campaign on Monday after the FBI searched his city hall. And Politico's Manu Raju reports that outgoing Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, who remains a powerful force in Democratic politics, may be willing to
bite the bullet and accept Sestak.
Reid met with Team Sestak last month and told them that if the candidate hires more staff and puts more effort into his fundraising, national Democrats "would seriously consider throwing its weight behind him." That's not exactly a firm commitment, but it's a huge change from the "Sestak has cooties!" approach we've seen so far. Reid was one of a few high-profile Democrats to unsuccessfully attempt to recruit Montgomery County Commissioner Josh Shapiro for this seat, and it would definitely matter if he accepted Sestak, even if only begrudgingly. One Democrat in attendance says the meeting went well, but we'll see what happens.
Still, anti-Sestak Democrats haven't quite given up hope of finding someone else. There's been some speculation that Katie McGinty, who serves as chief of staff to Gov. Tom Wolf, might be interested. McGinty hasn't said anything but the Philadelphia Inquirer tells us that she has spoken to national Democrats about a possible bid. However, there's no word on whether McGinty is actually interested or if D.C. Democrats are making any real effort to recruit her.