Rep. Joe Sestak (D) will officially launch his long-awaited Senate bid today with an initial kickoff event in his 7th district followed by two days of stops around the state.

Sestak will make his campaign official at a morning news conference at a Veterans of Foreign Wars hall in Folsom, Pa. The announcement will be streamed live on his Web site, joesestak.com.

Sestak will then hold press conferences in Pittsburgh and Johnstown later today. On Wednesday, Sestak has events scheduled in Harrisburg and Scranton, and then he will end his announcement tour with a studio appearance on “The Colbert Report— that night.

Sestak is headed for what is expected to be a nasty and expensive Democratic primary fight with Sen. Arlen Specter, whose party switch earlier this year provoked Sestak to enter the race.

The winner of the Democratic race is all but certain to face former Rep. Pat Toomey (R) in the general election.