Jul 8, 2015 3 min read

HARRISBURG, – National Democrats in search of a candidate they can support to take on incumbent U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey contacted Gov. Tom Wolf’s top aide about running, but she is not saying whether she will run or not, Democrats said this week.

Katie McGinty, who ran unsuccessfully against Wolf for last year’s Democratic gubernatorial nomination, said through a political ally that for now she is focused on her role as Wolf’s chief of staff.

“Right now, Katie is focused on working for the governor to get a budget in place that is balanced, fully funds public education and offers the people of Pennsylvania a reduction in their property taxes,” said Mike Mikus, who was her campaign manager in last year’s primary race.

The only Democrat currently running to challenge Toomey in the 2016 election is Joe Sestak, who has a chilly relationship with national Democrats and some of the party’s elite in Pennsylvania. National party leaders tried, but failed, to persuade Josh Shapiro to enter the race. Shapiro, who runs Montgomery County as its commissioner chairman, turned them down in May. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee approached McGinty in recent weeks, Democrats said.

Ed Rendell, Pennsylvania’s former Democratic governor, said he does not think McGinty will enter the race.

“I think she’d be a terrific candidate, but I don’t think she’s going to do it,” said Rendell, who employed both McGinty and Wolf in his cabinet.

To take on Sestak, McGinty would need to leave her post in the next week or two, Rendell said, to raise money and get herself known by Democrats. In any case, if McGinty decides against running, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee will probably support Sestak, Rendell said.

Bob Brady, a congressman and Philadelphia’s Democratic Party chairman, said a September entry by McGinty into the race would not be too late. But he said he did not know the nature of her commitment to Wolf or whether she wants to run.

“I think she would be a great candidate,” Brady said. “I think without question she would be our best candidate.”

Sestak, a former Navy vice admiral who served two terms in Congress from Delaware County, ran against Toomey in 2010 after beating Arlen Specter in the Democratic primary. Toomey won by 2 percentage points.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which is chaired by Montana Sen. John Tester, has not endorsed anyone in the Pennsylvania race. A spokeswoman for the organization declined comment on its recruitment efforts.

It had looked for a time like Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski would challenge Sestak. But Pawlowski suspended his campaign Monday amid a federal investigation into what he called Allentown’s contracting practices and the simultaneous and sudden shutdown of the political firm that was running Pawlowski’s campaign.