In April 2008, the media reported growing speculation that Chris Matthews, host of MSNBC’s Hardball, might run in the 2010 Democratic primary. Matthews has since said he has never told anyone that he’s running for the Senate seat. He has also said that if he did run, he would do it in a matter of weeks, rather than months, as he has done in the past.
About 2010 United States Senate Democratic primary election in Pennsylvania in brief
The Democratic primary for the 2010 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania took place on May 18, 2010. Congressman Joe Sestak defeated incumbent Arlen Specter, which led to the end of Specter’s five-term Senatorial career. In April 2008, the media reported growing speculation that Chris Matthews, news commentator and host of MSNBC’s Hardball, might run in the 2010 Democratic primary. In an interview with The New York Times Magazine, Matthews said that he believed Specter had been in the Senate for too long, but that running for Senate would mean giving up a career he loved. On November 28, The Patriot-News of Harrisburg reported that Matthews met that week with Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chairman T. J. Rooney and Executive Director Mary Isenhour to discuss possibly running against Specter. The same day, the blog FiveThirtyEight claimed that Matthews was already met with potential campaign staff, something Matthews claimed was something he had never done before. The speculation led some, like former presidential campaign spokesman for Hillary Clinton’s 2008 campaign Singer, to criticize Matthews for openly weighing a political campaign bid while working as a news broadcaster. Matthews has since said he has never told anyone that he’s running for the Senate seat, and that he has not yet formed a campaign committee or begun raising money for a campaign. He has also said that if he did run, he would do it in a matter of weeks, rather than months, as he has done in the past.
The race was one of the bitterest and most watched of all the 2010 primary elections. Specter gained wide support from Democrats after he switched parties. Sestaks struggled to overcome problems stemming from low name recognition and Specter’s support from such individuals as Joe Biden and Harry Reid, and organizations like the AFL-CIO and Pennsylvania Democratic Committee. Sestsak was ultimately defeated by Pat Toomey in the general election. Former President Bill Clinton offered Sesak a position in the Obama administration if he withdrew his candidacy, an offer Republicans would later criticize. The subject of Matthews’ possible candidacy was raised at an October dinner fundraiser for presidential candidate Barack Obama held by Robert Wolf, president of UBS’s investment bank. Matthews said, “Did you ever want to be something your whole life?… When you grow up, some kids want tobe a fireman. I want to be a Senator. But I have to deal with these things as they come.’” He later said, “People have asked me about it. I’ve never told anybody that I’m running. I think he’s got a really good job with MSNBC. He’s going to put some thought into it before he jumps into it in some way.” Matthews later said he had not yet come to a firm decision about whether or not he would run for the U.S. Senate seat in Pennsylvania in 2010, and said he would make a decision in the near future.
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