Democratic Massachusetts Senate seat. Specter acknowledged to The New York Times that the national political mood might work against him in the primary, but insisted he was not discouraged and expressed confidence in his ability to survive. Race grows more heated The primary continued to grow more heated in February 2010. On February 5, the two candidates held their first face-to-face debate, and used the 30-minute forum to strongly criticize each other, with Sestak continuing to associate Specter with failed Republican policies and Specter arguing his opponent was more focused on criticizing him than debating policy. Sestak continued to attack Specter for switching parties, asking, "Is the best the Democrats can do someone who has been on the other side, with respect, for 50 years, and cast 2,000 votes with President Bush?" Likewise, Specter once again criticized Sestak's missed votes in Congress, which he said would have been enough to earn Sestak a court-martial for going AWOL in his former Naval career. Sestak also criticized Specter for voting in favor of the Iraq War, and Specter in turn condemned Sestak for supporting Obama's proposed troop increase for the War in Afghanistan, which Specter opposed. The next day, the Pennsylvania Democratic Committee voted to endorse Specter over Sestak, with 77 percent of voters supporting the incumbent Senator, or 229 votes compared to Sestak's 72. Sestak criticized the committee for its decision, but also argued it solidified his own position as a political outsider independent from the mainstream Washington establishment. Media outlets said the vote indicated Specter had convinced most important figures in the state party that he was not simply a crossover politician. Later in February, Specter accused Sestak of mistreating his employees and disobeying state and federal minimum wage laws by severely underpaying his House staff. Citing Federal Election Commission reports, Specter claimed ten of Sestak's sixteen campaign staffers were making less than minimum wage and that they were so underpaid they were eligible for food stamps. He also noted that Sestak's three highest-paid staffers were members of his family, including his brother Richard Sestak, who worked as campaign manager. T.J. Rooney, a Specter supporter, wrote a letter to Sestak expressing concern about the potential violation of minimum wage laws, which read: "It is inconceivable to me that our standard bearer wouldn’t be paying his workers the minimum wage". Sestak responded by acknowledging his staff could make more money elsewhere,