Delaware County Daily Times
November 9, 2006
How Sestak Did It: Sestak had plan and stuck to it on path to victory
Joe Sestak wasn’t just smiling for the cameras Tuesday night when he walked into the lobby of the Radnor Hotel with his daughter perched on his shoulders and his wife by his side. He was smiling because all the Election Day indicators were pointing toward victory.
The retired Navy admiral’s staff and volunteers had executed his get-out-the-vote operation with military-style precision, breaking the 7th District into six regions and phoning in field reports throughout the day.
“It wasn’t perfect, but it was darned good,” Sestak said Wednesday from this campaign headquarters in Media.
By cross-referencing the turnout with previous election data, the campaign was able to postulate the results long before the polls closed. His staff had not predicted, however, that Sestak would defeat U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon by such a wide margin.
Unofficial results show the Democrat won by 12 percentage points, or nearly 33,000 votes.
He carried large Delaware County municipalities such as Upper Darby, Haverford, Radnor, Springfield, Nether Providence and Marple and cleaned up in Montgomery County 62-38. In the Chester County section of the district, Sestak won 54-46.
Estimated turnout among registered voters was 56 percent throughout the district and 58 percent within the Delaware County portion.
“This was a very strategic plan toward a goal, with an alternative message. And we did this campaign on the issues,” he said. “We responded to critiques on us, but we spoke on the issues and only responded when we had to.”