HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Tuesday’s primary in Pennsylvania will cement the slate of a high-stakes U.S. Senate race between Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and Republican challenger David McCormicka contest expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars and could help decide control of the Senate next year.
Casey, who is seeking his fourth term, is perhaps Pennsylvania’s best-known politician and a pillar of the swing state’s Democratic Party — the son of a former two-term governor and the longest-serving Democrat in Pennsylvania in the Senate.
McCormick is a two-time Senate challenger, a former hedge fund CEO and Pennsylvania native who spent $14 million of his own money only to narrowly lose to famed heart surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz in the 2022 seven-way GOP primary. Oz then lost to Democratic Sen. John Fetterman in a crucial Senate contest.
This time around, McCormick has consolidated the party around his candidacy and is backed by a super PAC that has already reported raising more than $20 million, much of it from securities billionaires.
McCormick’s candidacy is shaping up to be the most significant challenge to Casey in his three re-election bids. McCormick, determined to shore up support among the Republican base, told an audience of conservatives in suburban Harrisburg earlier this month that he told people, “You’ll agree with about 80 percent of what I’m saying…but we don’t agree 90%. time with the crazy progressive left that is destroying our country.
Senate candidates will share a ticket with presidential candidates in a state crucial to whether Democrats can maintain control of the White House and Senate. President Joe Biden and old President Donald Trump They are expected to easily win their party’s nomination now that all major rivals have dropped out.
However, it should be noted the number of “ uncommitted » Write-in votes cast during the Democratic primary to protest Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war.
In the Senate race, Democrats attacked McCormick’s opposition to abortion rights, his frequent trips to Connecticut’s luxurious “Gold Coast” ” where he has a family home, and the focus on investments in China during his twelve years as an executive at hedge fund Bridgewater Associates, including as CEO.
Casey has been a key player for Democrats trying to reframe the election year narrative on the economy by tackling “greed” — a brutal term for companies that raise prices and scam buyers to maximize profits – like rapidly rising prices over the past three years have opened up a big weak spot in 2024 for Democrats. Recent indications that the U.S. economy has avoided a recession thanks to efforts to manage inflation have not yet translated into voter enthusiasm for granting Biden a second term.
McCormick, meanwhile, accused Casey of rubber-stamping Biden’s harmful policies on immigration, the economy, energy and national security, and made an offer for Jewish voters while traveling in Israel-Gaza…
