Curt Weldon: The Troublemaker

Running Scared
Weldon has decisively bested every congressional candidate who tried to defeat him. On average, he wins 66 percent of his constituents' votes, although he scored 59 percent (his lowest total in any election) in the last contest. And all this in a district that, since 2000, has split its ticket and sent a Democrat to the White House.

Various polls show Weldon leading his Democratic opponent, Joe Sestak, a retired Navy vice admiral, by comfortable margins. Republican pollsters, however, conducted the most-optimistic surveys. Also, Weldon's relatively low vote total in the 2004 race, in which he faced a virtual unknown, set off alarm bells. As of the end of June, Sestak had raised more than $1.1 million. That's almost 19 times the combined total raised by Weldon's three previous election opponents and was close to Weldon's $1.4 million. Recently, National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Reynolds of New York stumped in Weldon's district, a sure sign that the national party thinks he's in danger.

"I don't know where this guy [Sestak] came from," Weldon said in his office, back in April. "It's obvious he's being pushed.... Bush's numbers are in the tank, and [the Democrats] are trying to tie me to him." The Weldon-Sestak race echoes a familiar chorus from the 2004 presidential contest. The Democrats are trumpeting Sestak's military credentials as a counter to Weldon's strong suit. The decorated Navy officer is a former director for defense policy on the National Security Council. His official campaign biography is devoted almost entirely to his 31-year military career, and it sports a photo of a younger Sestak, svelte in dress whites, briefing Bill Clinton in the Oval Office.

Weldon, in turn, is taking a page out of George W. Bush's playbook. Earlier this year, Democratic Mayor Bob McMahon of Media, Pa., backed Weldon at a rally. McMahon helped finance "Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal," a video that critically examined John Kerry's anti-war activities after his tour in Vietnam. Weldon has questioned Sestak's service, citing reports that he was removed from a senior position in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations because his hard-charging management style turned his staff against him. "My mom didn't raise no dummies," Weldon said. "I'm a street fighter, and I'll do what I have to do."

Last year, doctors diagnosed a malignant brain tumor in Sestak's 5-year-old daughter, Alexandra, and said that the condition was terminal. Sestak and his wife, Susan, chose to seek treatment at Children's National Medical Center in Washington because "of its outstanding work on pediatric brain tumors," Sestak said.

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