FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Katie Mounts, Director of Communications and External Relations, 202.543.4100, ext. 2109
Washington, D.C. – With the victory of U.S. Representative Admiral Joe Sestak over incumbent Senator Arlen Specter in yesterday’s U.S. Senate Democratic primary in Pennsylvania, Council for a Livable World, the nation’s leading arms control advocacy organization, added one more win to its extensive record of supporting progressive candidates in tight primaries in elections for the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.
Council for a Livable World endorsed Admiral Sestak early in his campaign in August 2009 for his strong record on nuclear weapons and other national security issues. It was Sestak’s first national endorsement. Council board member Gen. John Johns personally delivered the Council endorsement last year. This cycle, Council supporters contributed over $54,000 to Sestak’s primary campaign.
“Yesterday’s win for Admiral Joe Sestak in the Pennsylvania Democratic Primary is a win for progressives and for national security advocates across the country,� said the Council’s Executive Director John Isaacs, who has represented the organization on Capitol Hill for more than 30 years. “Sestak has proven himself a strong advocate of sensible national security policies during his time in the House of Representatives. If elected to the U.S. Senate, he will be a strong advocate of a smart nuclear security agenda for the 21st century.�
The Council was also the first national organization to endorse Sestak in his successful underdog run for the House of Representatives in 2006 and again endorsed him when he ran for reelection in 2008.
Since its founding, Council for a Livable World has endorsed and helped elect 118 progressive candidates to the Senate and 199 candidates to the House of Representatives. The nation’s leading advocacy organization and political action committee for matters of nuclear weapons control, the Council raised $1.4 million for Congressional candidates in the 2008 elections.
With the victory of Rep. Sestak yesterday, the Council has been remarkably successful when it has intervened in Senate primaries in recent elections. Other successful primary endorsements by the Council include President Barack Obama in his 2004 Senate election, Senator Sherrod Brown in his 2006 bid for Senate, and Senators Jeff Merkley and Al Franken in the 2008 elections. In the 15 campaigns where Council for a Livable World has endorsed a candidate before a primary, it has helped elect the winning candidate every time but one, with one contest outstanding, (that of the North Carolina runoff election on June 22).
Council for a Livable World will now continue to fundraise for and support Sestak in his general election campaign against far-right candidate Rep. Pat Toomey (R).