Joe Sestak

Joe Sestak

Joseph "Joe" A. Sestak, Jr. (born December 12, 1951 in Springfield , Pennsylvania ) is an American politician ( Democratic Party ). He represented the 7th District of Pennsylvania in the United States House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011 , ran unsuccessfully as a candidate for the US Senate in 2010 and failed in the party primary in 2016 . In the United States Navy he reached the rank of rear admiral .

Naval officer

Joe Sestak graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1974 , following in the footsteps of his father, who served in the US Navy during World War II . Up until 1990, Sestak made six mission trips on the USS Richard E. Byrd (DDG-23) , USS Hoel (DDG-13) and USS Underwood (FFG-36) . Between trips he earned a Masters in 1980 and PhD from Harvard University in 1984 .

In 1991 he took command of the frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG-58) . In 1993 and 1994 he served on the staff of the Chief of Naval Operations , from 1994 to 1997 on the staff of the National Security Council . In 2000 he was head of the Navy Quadrennial Defense Review . In 2002 Systak commanded the combat group around the USS George Washington (CVN-73) in the war effort off Afghanistan.

Sestak was later promoted to Vice Admiral and appointed Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Warfare Requirements and Program . When Michael Mullen became CNO in 2005, he fired Sestak and accused him of bad leadership ("a poor command climate"). In 2006 he left the US Navy as he had not been Vice Admiral long enough, with the rank of Rear Admiral.

Sestak's awards include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal , two Legion of Merit , two Meritorious Service Medals, and three Navy Commendation Medals .

politics

In 2006, Sestak ran for a seat in the House of Representatives. In the 7th constituency of Pennsylvania he beat incumbent Curt Weldon and took over his seat. In 2008 he beat his challenger, Wendell Craig Williams. Sestak served on the United States House Committee on Armed Services , the United States House Committee on Education and Labor, and was Vice Chairman of the United States House Committee on Small Business.

On May 18, 2010, he defeated incumbent Arlen Specter in the Democratic Party primary for the November 2010 Senate elections . However, he lost this election by just under two percent of the vote (75,000) against Republican Pat Toomey . For the 2016 election , Sestak ran again to defeat Toomey on the second attempt. In the course of 2015, however, the democratic party establishment tried to prevent Sestak, who was viewed as an uncooperative stubborn head, by placing an opposing candidate in the party's internal primary. The election for his opponent candidate fell on Governor Tom Wolf's previous chief of staff , Kathleen McGinty , who defeated Sestak - supported by strong influence from the federal party - in the democratic primary at the end of April 2016.

2019 presidential candidacy

Sestak declared an interest in participating in the democratic primary for the 2020 presidential election late in June 2019 . In the already dense field of applicants, Sestak failed to qualify for the television debates or to gain media attention. He ended his candidacy in December 2019.

Web links

Commons : Joe Sestak  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Joe Sestak in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• Sestak in the US Navy (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Navy Times: Names being floated for next Navy secretary ( Memento from September 5, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) (Engl.)
2. ↑ Joe Sestak in the Notable Names Database (English)
3. ↑ Alex Roarty: Meet The Democratic Senate Candidate Who Drives Democrats Crazy. In: National Journal , February 19, 2015.
4. ↑ Jonathan Tamari, Maddie Hanna, Aubrey Whelan: McGinty Tops Sestak for Senate Nomination. In: The Philadelphia Inquirer , April 27, 2016.
5. ↑ Yelena Dzhanova: Former congressman Joe Sestak drops out of 2020 presidential race. December 1, 2019, accessed December 3, 2019 .