Katie McGinty Resigns as Tom Wolf’s Chief of Staff

Katie McGinty has made up her mind.

According to Governor Tom Wolf‘s spokesperson, Jeffrey Sheridan, McGinty has resigned today as the governor’s chief of staff. Effective as of close of business today, said Sheridan, “Katie McGinty is no longer chief of staff and no longer on payroll.”

A report earlier today by National Journal‘s Alex Roarty said that she would resign tomorrow in an attempt to run for Pennsylvania Senator against Pat Toomey in the 2016 general election. McGinty will not make a formal Senate declaration tomorrow, Roarty writes, but the resignation after seven months — when she was appointed Chief of Staff by Governor Wolf when he took office in January — would seem to be a strong indication that she’ll throw her hat in the Senate ring. He added that his own sources expect a formal announcement on that front in the coming weeks.

Democrats on Capitol Hill have for a while been searching for a Democratic candidate in Pennsylvania to compete with Joe Sestak — who already has some years of experience in Congress — because they are cautious about his “unwillingness to listen to strategic advice,” as Roarty writes, fearing that it could lose them a race against incumbent Republican Pat Toomey. Pennsylvania’s other incumbent is Democrat Bob Casey, Jr.  

However, McGinty does not have much experience in the way of electoral success. She ran against Wolf and three other Democrats in the May 2014 gubernatorial primary and came in last, and she has never held any other elected office before. She had previously served as Pennsylvania’s Secretary for Environmental Protection, and she also has D.C. experience, having been a deputy assistant to former President Bill Clinton and the chairwoman on the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

If she enters the race at this late stage, it will be in a significant financial hole. Roarty writes that Sestak has already accrued $1.7 million for his own campaign. However, he notes, Washington Democrats view her as a “rising star.”

Stay tuned …