I don’t think Philly cost Sestak the election. His margin of victory was over 284K in the city, which is comparable to Bob Casey’s margin in 2006 (289K) when he beat Rick Santorum. The difference was in the collar counties around Philly and in Western PA. Sestak only won two of the collar counties (Delaware and Montgomery) while Toomey won the other two (Chester and Bucks). Toomey also flipped 11 Western PA counties that had voted for Bob Casey in 2006, including Beaver, Washington, and Westmoreland counties. Sestak underperformed in the swing counties of the state, which leads me to believe he was viewed as too liberal by many Democrats and independents.