Dem campaign committee takes sides in Pa. primary

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) on Wednesday endorsed Katie McGinty over Joe Sestak in the race for Pennsylvania’s Senate seat.

The endorsement gives the former gubernatorial chief of staff a boost ahead of the heated Democratic primary on April 26, where the candidates will vie for the chance to take on Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.).

{mosads}“She is a hard charging voice for change who will work to expand opportunities for the families who have been left behind for too long,” Tom Lopach, DSCC executive director, said in a statement. 

“Katie knows how to get the job done and she will be a powerful voice for college affordability, equal pay and ending corporate tax breaks for companies shipping good U.S. jobs overseas. We are proud to endorse Katie McGinty for U.S. Senate,” he added.

But while McGinty continues to rack up support from the party’s establishment, she trails Sestak in polls and has failed to match his fundraising.

Sestak riled party leaders by running and successfully winning against then-Sen. Arlen Specter (D) in 2010. He then lost to Toomey by several points in the general election.

Sestak told reporters during a conference call on Wednesday, “Look I think… the DSCC’s endorsement just completes the complete rejection by Washington D.C.’s power holders of everything I believe in,. That is, people above the party.”

Toomey’s campaign also reacted to the endorsement.

“The Democratic powerbrokers know Katie McGinty is running an uninspiring campaign that is not catching on, but the question is why are they so panicked by the thought of Joe Sestak as their nominee,” said Toomey for Senate spokesman Ted Kwong.  “The answer is that they know Sestak is a failed candidate who plays fast and loose with the truth and whose extreme left-wing views are too out of touch with Pennsylvanians.”

John Fetterman, mayor of the suburban Pittsburgh city of Braddock, is also running in the Democratic primary.

The winner of the Democratic nomination will go on to face Toomey in a competitive election that could help determine which party controls the Senate in the next Congress.

Democrats need a net gain of at least four seats to win back control the Senate, and five seats if Republicans win the White House. 

But Toomey has a significant cash advantage over all of his Democratic opponents and defeats them in polls of general election match-ups.

— Jordain Carney contributed