Joe Sestak didn't need a microphone.

Instead, the congressman and candidate for U.S. Senate, declining a spot up at the podium, stepped out among fellow Democrats at the Lancaster Host Resort & Conference Center on Saturday.

"We promised ... we promised the people that not just policy, but also politics, would change," and that is what they must make happen, Sestak said.

"This is gut-check time for the Democratic Party," he said, as a few people in the big meeting room shouted "Amen!"

When his emotional speech ended, it didn't take Sestak long to keep his momentum going.

Lancaster County Democrats gave Sestak their overwhelming support during a day-long endorsement convention Saturday.

Sestak easily won local party backing in the race for U.S. Senate, besting five-term incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter by a committee vote of 101-27.

The first-ballot victory came at the same site where Specter, two weeks ago, had won the endorsement of the statewide Democrats.

Saturday, it was Sestak's turn, after he gave an impassioned speech to the party, declaring his support for regular, "forgotten" voters, adding, "If there was ever a time for courage, it is now."

Sestak's endorsement was the highlight of a busy day for county Democrats, who described how they are continuing to make inroads in this predominantly Republican county.

The Democrats, traditionally the underdog party here, also endorsed Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Hoeffel for governor on the second ballot.

Hoeffel bested the other nominees on hand — state Auditor General Jack Wagner, who dropped out after the first ballot with the fewest votes, and Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato.

The Democrats also endorsed first-time candidate Jerry Policoff, a single-payer health care advocate and freelance writer who lives in Lancaster Township, to be the party's nominee for the 41st state House seat.

Current state Rep. Katie True, a Republican, is retiring. Last week, Lancaster County Republicans endorsed Ryan Aument, the county's clerk of courts, as their party's candidate for the 41st House seat.

The Democrats on Saturday also endorsed veteran incumbent Mike Sturla, who is seeking a 10th term in the 96th District state House seat.

Patrick O'Keeffe, of Lititz, an unsuccessful candidate for that borough's council last fall, was endorsed by the Democrats for the 97th state House seat, now held by Republican John Bear.

"If I'd known I'd be running," O'Keeffe, who was wearing a blue T-shirt, quipped, "I would've have worn a suit."

Don't worry about it, someone responded: "You're a Democrat."

Jo Ellen Litz, a three-term Lebanon County commissioner, was endorsed for the 48th state Senate seat, now held by Republican Mike Folmer, a district that includes a sliver of northern Lancaster County.

And Lois Herr, of Elizabethtown, was endorsed unanimously by the convention to run for the 16th Congressional District now held by veteran incumbent, Republican Joe Pitts.

This is Herr's third run at Pitts. She ran unsuccessfully for the seat in 2004 and 2006.

Sestak, of Delaware County, said after his rousing speech, "I think they [the county Democrats] feel just like I do.

"Washington people have forgotten us, the working family. And what we were all responding to is, yes, we want to change the politics, not just the policies, of this country ... and that, more than anything, is what I hear everywhere I go."

Sestak, who retired as a two-star admiral after 31 years in the U.S. Navy, spurned the suits and ties of the other candidates Saturday.

Instead, he wore his jacket from the Navy, where he commanded the George Washington aircraft carrier battle group during combat operations in Afghanistan.

Specter did not attend Saturday's convention here.

Harrisburg City Councilman Brad Koplinski spoke for the senator, saying Pennsylvania Democrats will need someone of Specter's stature to take on likely Republican nominee Pat Toomey.

"He knows how to stand up to these tea-party folks, and he's going to do it with Pat Toomey," Koplinski said of Specter, who switched parties last April after decades as a Republican.

The county Democrats failed to reach an endorsement in the race for lieutenant governor, with neither former Philadelphia city controller Jonathan Saidel or former state Commonwealth Court Judge Doris Smith-Ribner receiving enough votes Saturday.

County Democrats also received encouragement in a "state of the party" address from their chairman, Bruce Beardsley.

Democrats here have grown from 67,000 registered voters in 2001 to 100,604 today, making Lancaster County the second-fastest-growing county in Pennsylvania for Democrats, Beardsley said.

"The biggest challenge facing us, as Democrats, is to increase our voter turnout rates," he said.

"Not only are we outnumbered by Republicans in this county, but they vote more often than we do. That makes it tough to win elections."

There was plenty of spirit among the delegates Saturday.

One woman wrote notes on her hand and called herself "Sarah Plain," a send-up of Sarah Palin's hand-notes controversy of a few weeks ago.

Said Darlene Byrd, a Lancaster City Democratic committeewoman as she looked around the big meeting room, "I was very committed, years ago, and now I'm feeling the need to get back into it.

"I think we really need to do that again, to make things happen."

doconnor@lnpnews.com