United States Naval Academy (BS) Harvard University (MPA, PhD)
Website
Campaign website
Military service
Allegiance
United States
Branch/service
United States Navy
Years of service
1974–2005
Rank
Vice admiral (Retired as a Rear Admiral)
Commands
Director of Navy Operations Group
Awards
Defense Distinguished Service Medal (3) Navy Distinguished Service Medal (2) Legion of Merit (2) Meritorious Service Medal (2) Joint Service Commendation Medal
This article is part of a series about Joe Sestak
Political positions
Electoral history
U.S. Representative from PA-7
Elections
2006
2008
2010 Senate Campaign
Election
2020 presidential campaign
FIRST Global Challenge
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Joseph Ambrose Sestak Jr. (born December 12, 1951) is an American politician and retired U.S. Navy officer. He represented Pennsylvania's 7th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011 and was the Democratic nominee for the United States Senate in 2010. A three-star vice admiral, he was the highest-ranking military official ever elected to the United States Congress at the time of his election.[2] He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in the 2020 election, launching his campaign on June 23, 2019 and ending it on December 1, 2019,[3][4] subsequently endorsing Amy Klobuchar.[5]
Graduating second in his class at the United States Naval Academy, Sestak served in the United States Navy for over 31 years and rose to the rank of three-star admiral.[6] He served as the Director for Defense Policy on the National Security Council staff under President Bill Clinton and held a series of operational commands, including commanding the USS George Washington carrier strike group during combat operations in the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean in 2002.[7]
Sestak was elected to the House of Representatives in 2006,[8] and reelected in 2008 by a 20% margin.[9] He declined to run for reelection in 2010, instead running for the Senate. In the Democratic primary he defeated incumbent Senator Arlen Specter, in office since 1981, 54% to 46%, but lost the general election to Republican nominee Pat Toomey in a close race. Sestak sought a rematch with Toomey in the 2016 election, but lost the primary to Katie McGinty by just under ten points,[10] in the closest and costliest Senate primary of the 2016 cycle, while facing opposition from prominent Democrats.[11][12]
Sestak announced a campaign for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination in on June 23, 2019. His campaign attracted little support and he failed to qualify for any debates. He dropped out of the race on December 1, 2019.[13]
Sestak has also served as president of FIRST Global, a nonprofit with the objective of promoting STEM education that brought high-school age teams from 157 countries to Washington, D.C., for the inaugural robotics Olympics.[14] In 2022, he announced he was leaving the Democratic Party and joining the centrist Forward Party.[15]
^Falcone, Michael (July 20, 2009). "Specter takes hard line on Sestak". Politico. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
^"Joe Sestak, the 60th Democrat". The New York Times. August 18, 2010. Retrieved November 2, 2012.
^Quilantan, Bianca (June 23, 2019). "Former Democratic Rep. Joe Sestak announces presidential bid". POLITICO. Retrieved June 24, 2019.
^LeBlanc, Paul (December 1, 2019). "Joe Sestak ends long-shot 2020 Democratic presidential campaign". CNN. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
^@JoeSestak (February 7, 2020). "Honored to be on team @amyklobuchar. Respectfully, Joehttps://www.nbcnews.com/politics/meet-the-press/blog/meet-press-blog-latest-news-analysis-data-driving-political-discussion-n988541/ncrd1132386 …" (Tweet). Retrieved February 7, 2020 – via Twitter.
^"Joseph Sestak :: Notable graduates". United States Naval Academy.
^"USS George Washington Battle Group Returns Home". Navy News Service. December 18, 2002. Archived from the original on August 6, 2019. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
^Krawczeniuk, Borys. "Sestak, Toomey hope for wonkish election". Retrieved March 25, 2018.
^"Why Joe Sestak Will Be the Democratic Nominee Against Pat Toomey". Retrieved March 25, 2018.
Joseph Ambrose Sestak Jr. (born December 12, 1951) is an American politician and retired U.S. Navy officer. He represented Pennsylvania's 7th congressional...
for reelection to a sixth term, but lost in the Democratic primary to JoeSestak. Republican nominee Pat Toomey then won the seat. Toomey had previously...
election in Pennsylvania took place on May 18, 2010, when Congressman JoeSestak defeated incumbent Arlen Specter, which led to the end of Specter's five-term...
Representative and former U.S. Navy three-star admiral JoeSestak. After a close race, Sestak lost the general election to former U.S. Representative...
of Joe Biden Electoral history of Joe Biden List of awards and honors received by Joe Biden List of things named after Joe Biden Bibliography of Joe Biden...
the White House had offered Pennsylvania Representative JoeSestak a job to persuade Sestak to drop out of the Pennsylvania Senate primary election against...
considered a long shot against two better-known candidates, Katie McGinty and JoeSestak, the 2010 Democratic nominee for Senate. Fetterman was endorsed by former...
re-election bid in the Democratic primary to former U.S. Navy vice admiral JoeSestak, who then lost to Republican Pat Toomey in the general election. Toomey...
from the race after states began to certify candidates for ballot spots: JoeSestak, Steve Bullock, Kamala Harris, Julián Castro, Marianne Williamson, Cory...
he ended up losing the Democratic primary to Representative JoeSestak. Congressman Sestak narrowly lost the general election to Pat Toomey in November...
Hickenlooper Jay Inslee campaign Wayne Messam Seth Moulton Richard Ojeda Beto O'Rourke campaign Tim Ryan JoeSestak Eric Swalwell Marianne Williamson campaign...
cannabis, with the exception of Michael Bloomberg, Steve Bullock and JoeSestak. On June 20, 2019, following the first federal death sentence since 2003...
another term and JoeSestak became the party's new nominee. In Alaska, Lisa Murkowski lost renomination for another term in office and Joe Miller became...
Democratic nominee, former U.S. Navy three-star admiral and congressman JoeSestak, in the general election. He was reelected to the Senate in 2016, defeating...
Hickenlooper Jay Inslee campaign Wayne Messam Seth Moulton Richard Ojeda Beto O'Rourke campaign Tim Ryan JoeSestak Eric Swalwell Marianne Williamson campaign...
Admiral Ann E. Rondeau, Navy Colonel Jack Warren Russell, Army Vice Admiral JoeSestak, Navy General John J. Sheehan, Marine Corps Rear Admiral Jacob L. Shuford...
Hickenlooper Jay Inslee campaign Wayne Messam Seth Moulton Richard Ojeda Beto O'Rourke campaign Tim Ryan JoeSestak Eric Swalwell Marianne Williamson campaign...
Kamala Harris, California Steve Bullock, Montana Julian Castro, Texas JoeSestak, Pennsylvania Ben Gleib, California Cory Booker, New Jersey Brian Moore...
More recently, he has worked for Pennsylvania Democratic representatives JoeSestak, Chris Carney, and Patrick Murphy, and chaired former Pennsylvania Gov...
district of Pennsylvania. He was defeated in November 2006 for reelection by JoeSestak. Weldon was vice-chair of the Armed Services Committee and the House Homeland...
Representatives from 2011 until his resignation in 2018. He succeeded Democrat JoeSestak, who ran unsuccessfully for the United States Senate. A graduate of Bowdoin...
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection; former Congressman JoeSestak, who defeated incumbent senator Arlen Specter (a Democrat turned Republican...
Barack Obama. In April 2016, she defeated former U.S. Representative JoeSestak and then-Mayor of Braddock John Fetterman in the Democratic primary. As...
speak at events with Democrats such as Barbara Boxer, Mary Jo Kilroy and JoeSestak. She toured seven states in two weeks within October 2010. Aides reported...