Primary boosts confidence of 7th District GOP runner (Sestak vs Williams)

With a 60 percent Democratic voter turnout in the hotly contested Pennsylvania presidential primary election compared to just 26 percent for Republicans in Delaware County, Republican challenger W. Craig Williams was able to secure 39,707 votes in the race for the 7th Congressional District, a seat currently held by freshman Democrat Joseph Sestak, of Edgmont.

Williams, 43, of Concord, secured 51,703 votes overall when lumping in the portion of Chester and Montgomery counties that fall into the 7th District.

Sestak, 56, garnered 64,809 votes in the county and 89,041 overall — respectable numbers, to be sure, but still a tight difference in an election with such drastically disparate turnout figures.

“The Democrats aren’t going to do any better in the general election in terms of turnout,” said Peterson, Williams’ spokesman. “When you consider a large Democratic turnout to about (25) percent registered Republican turnout and how close Craig came, that shows this is a very winnable seat.”

Sestak spokesman George Matysik pointed out, however, that there are areas of Delaware County with high concentrations of Democrats that do not fall in the 7th District, skewing turnout figures for that race.

Still, Williams did put up some impressive numbers — the most of any Republican congressional challenger in Pennsylvania, said Peterson — in an election that did not require much Republican participation. U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., had clinched his party’s nomination long before the race came to the Keystone State.

But Sestak has some impressive numbers of his own. According to Federal Election Commission filings from April 8, Sestak raised $645,000 between Jan. 1 and April 2 of this year for his war chest, already bulging at $2,262,000.

Williams, in that same filing, lists only $134,898 raised, and has $132,914 on hand. Peterson said the campaign is not worried about that figure, as Williams has only developed his fundraising mechanisms since mid-March.

“He really raised all that in six weeks, which is pretty impressive when you think about it,” said Peterson. “We’re really pleased with the numbers and the amount he was able to raise in such a short period of time.”

Now that the revenue streams are in place, such as a Web site and local office, Peterson said he expects the next filing will better reflect the financial backing his candidate has in the district.

He added that Williams will be running a “retail campaign,” given the amount of money Sestak has in the bank. For every dollar Sestak raises, Williams wants to shake two hands, said Peterson.

While the primary numbers put a spring in Peterson’s step, there are still some 38,925 unaffiliated and third-party voters who couldn’t vote in the primary and are now being courted by both sides for the November general election.

McCain’s competitors also took a combined 9,935 votes Tuesday, which could be a telling sign that at least that many registered Republicans in the county aren’t happy having him as the presumptive nominee.

And county Democratic Party leader Cliff Wilson predicted one in five Republicans — maybe one in four this year — will vote Democratic in the general election, when Democrats are expected to make another strong showing. The county has gone Democrat in every presidential election since 1992.

Williams has blasted Sestak’s abilities to address issues in the district, calling him “irresponsible and ineffective” and relating him to a batter who sees a pitch coming right over the plate, but never swings.

Chief among those strikes was a Federal Aviation Administration Airspace Redesign Plan at Philadelphia International Airport, begun nine years ago under Sestak’s precursor, Republican Curt Weldon, but initiated during Sestak’s term.

Spokeswoman Alix Gerz said Sestak will testify today on the FAA redesign plan during a hearing in Philadelphia held by U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., whom Sestak assisted in preparing for the hearing.

Williams has also taken Sestak to task for helping pass a $3 trillion House budget plan aligned with a companion Senate plan that would allow the “Bush tax cuts” of 2001 and 2003 to expire in 2010; for helping pass a bill aimed at permanently updating the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), but not retroactively protecting telecommunications companies from lawsuits; and for ranking fifth among freshman legislators securing earmarked allocations in spending bills, at about $11.2 million.

Sestak has declined to rise to the bait so far, saying there will be plenty of time to campaign come September. He has instead been quietly going about his business, helping pass two bills since the primary — one aimed at helping small-business programs and a bipartisan resolution he co-sponsored that would push back federal reductions to Medicaid for one year.

craig williams is a solid candidate. i hope he raises enough money to put up a good fight to sestak. there are still a ton of republicans in the 7th.

I agree. Fundraising will be improtant. But he’s got a great resume — a Marine combat vet who flew F-18s in Desert Storm, federal prosecutor, etc.

More here:

http://www.craigwilliamsforcongress.com/

As an old Army guy, sometimes I can’t figure out what some of these retired Navy guys see in the Democrat party. Sestak is a retired Vice Admiral. The Democrats have never wanted to do anything to support our military. It’s disappointing.

Sestak and Patrick Murphy have been lapdogs for Nancy Pelosi. Their voting records are far to the left of these moderate-to-conservative districts and George Bush is not going to be a factor in this election. We need to do everything we can to get these two poseurs out of Congress!

Sestak's an old Clinton crony. He was on the national security staff at the White House. The Clintons raised tons of money for his election in 2006 and engineered the FBI raid on Curt Weldon's house just before Election Day. They were desperate to shut down Weldon's investigation of Able Danger.

But Sestak is in trouble now for his very public support of Hillary after his district went for Obama. The opposite happened to Patrick Murphy - Clinton trounced Obama in his district while he served as Obama's state chairman and has been campaigning all over the country for Obama. Both of these tools are completely out of step with their districts and we have GREAT candidates running against them.

I know in Sestak’s case, he has voted with Pelosi 98 percent of time. Its like having a Pelosi clone in office. Sestak is really out of touch with his district and desrves the boot.

Well, if he spent a day in combat, then he has more combat experience than the Admiral, who has none!

Do you mean to tell me that limp wristed pansy Patches Murphy, the guy who talks about his combat boots all the time, is in trouble? What good news. I’d be interested in knowing which Limp-Richard (Murphy or Sestak) is in the most trouble.

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