President Obama phoned Rep. Joe Sestak to congratulate him on the victory in Pennsylvania’s Democratic Senate primary last night. Sestak (D-PA) said on CNN that Obama offered his full support despite being behind Sen. Arlen Specter during the primary.
Sestak said he was “gratified” by Obama’s call, adding, “I want to be a strong ally of him, one of the strongest allies, but obviously not a yes man and I’m looking forward to this next election.”
“Couldn’t have been nicer,” Sestak said.
Sestak told CNN, “He said, ‘Congratulations, and Joe, I’m really there for you and I look forward to working with you and getting you in the United States Senate.'”
As we reported last night, Democrats close to the White House said there would be a smooth transition to backing Sestak.
A Democrat close to the White House said it’s most likely that Obama advisers Patrick Gaspard and Jim Messina would reach out to Sestak to coordinate the formal endorsement.
Additional reporting by Erik Hinton
