Which of these failed Democratic primary candidates would have won?

[Figueira]

I only included the more high-profile ones.

[Xing]

Maybe Sestak, definitely not any of the others.

[PAK Man]

Honestly, I don't think any of them would have won or really done any better than the person who did win the primary. Maybe Jonathan Swinton would have done slightly better than Misty Snow, but in no way would he have actually won.

[Indy Texas]

Democrats this year made the same mistake Republicans did in 2012 regarding Senate candidates. They assumed they could just pull some old brand-name politician off the shelf and the voters would buy it unquestioningly. In 2012, this was Tommy Thompson and George Allen. This year, it was Ted Strickland and Evan Bayh and Russ Feingold.

The amount of trust American voters have in institutions and insiders is at such a structural low at this point that I think it's time to start viewing time spent in elected office as a liability past a certain point. Democrats need to start finding non-traditional candidates in places like the military and private sector business.

[Attorney General, LGC Speaker, and Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

100% confident Sestak would have won. Maybe a 10% chance for Baron Hill. Sittenfeld, Swinton, and Grayson would definitely have lost.

[Figueira]

Democrats this year made the same mistake Republicans did in 2012 regarding Senate candidates. They assumed they could just pull some old brand-name politician off the shelf and the voters would buy it unquestioningly. In 2012, this was Tommy Thompson and George Allen. This year, it was Ted Strickland and Evan Bayh and Russ Feingold.

The amount of trust American voters have in institutions and insiders is at such a structural low at this point that I think it's time to start viewing time spent in elected office as a liability past a certain point. Democrats need to start finding non-traditional candidates in places like the military and private sector business.

Not sure about the last line, but generally I agree. It's better to have a high-quality candidate than a candidate with a lot of name recognition beforehand. This applies at the presidential level too; all the successful non-incumbent Democratic nominees recently have been little-known people beforehand: Carter, B. Clinton, Obama. The big names like Mondale, Gore, and H. Clinton have failed. (I'm not sure how well-known Dukakis and Kerry were.)

[JMT]

Maybe Sestak, but I'm doubtful. I think NOTA

[ElectionsGuy]

Maybe Sestak, definitely not any of the others.

[BuckeyeNut]

Fetterman may have done even better than Sestak, TBH.

[Maxwell]

People who say Sestak are blissfully Ignorant of his behavior this cycle. He would've gone down in flames ala Ted Strickland.

[Mr. Smith]

Sestak possibly, and I'm sure Grayson would've held Rubio's feet to the fire better.

Utah never goes D so forget that, and we've seen how Young vs Hill matches go.

That said, the straight-ticketing is so strong that lots of the actual winners probably would've gone down with trump if not for Comeyghazi.

In fact, I'm pretty sure only Bayh would've been screwed.

[publicunofficial]

Fetterman may have done even better than Sestak, TBH.

[Heisenberg]

NOTA.

[Figueira]

People who say Sestak are blissfully Ignorant of his behavior this cycle. He would've gone down in flames ala Ted Strickland.

What did he do?

[moderatevoter]

Grayson debating Rubio would've been interesting to watch, tbh.

[Maxwell]

People who say Sestak are blissfully Ignorant of his behavior this cycle. He would've gone down in flames ala Ted Strickland.

What did he do?

he did a walking tour of the state thinking he was Lawton Chiles, he went on insane tangents during the debates, and overall sounded pretty nutty.

[Kingpoleon]

Joe Sestak. De La Fuente and Pam Keith both might have done better and perhaps, on an off chance, won.

If you make a GOP version, I'd list all of the Colorado GOP candidates.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Sestak. Hill could've make it actually more competitive, judging from final results.

Grayson would be decimated by the Lavenous Man.

[Suburbia]

Joe Sestak would have beaten Toomey in a rematch, most likely. McGinty was just not a great candidate.

[DavidB.]

NOTA.

[Coolface Sock #42069]

Only Sestak would have had a chance. Maybe he could have done better than Hillary in the non-Pittsburgh, non-Philly part of the state.

[Zioneer]

Sestak, maybe Sittenfield. That's it. Everyone else would have done as bad or worse.

Even Swinton in Utah would have been hovering around 30% of the vote, which means nothing.

[SWE]

Sittenfield could have made it negligibly closer, but that's about it.

[VPH]

Sestak for sure.