September 15, 2023 | 9:23 am
Mark Levy/The Associated Press
Covering Pennsylvania politics, government and scandals for @AP. The wicked run away when no one pursues. @Colorado Native. As honest as a guy from Denver can be.
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FILE – Dave McCormick, Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, meets with attendees during a campaign event in Copley, PA, on January 25, 2022. As Republicans aim to gain the one seat they need to retake the Senate next year. Election, McCormick is a top recruiter
Republican David McCormick is expected to announce his second bid for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, according to people familiar with his plans. Following a costly and serious GOP primary defeat last year to a Donald Trump-backed rival, Republican Senator Bob Casey will be defeated.
McCormick, 58, enjoys strong support from the party establishment. With his deep pockets as a former hedge fund CEO, Republicans believe he will pose a strong challenge to three-term Casey in a state that is crucial for control of the White House and the Senate.
He has begun telling people about his intention to run and plans to announce his candidacy next week, according to three people who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to avoid revealing private conversations. are supposed to.
McCormick’s impending candidacy is a major victory for Republicans, who recruited him to run again last year after he sought the seat of retiring Republican Senator Pat Toomey. McCormick lost to celebrity heart surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz in the primary by only 950 votes, and Oz lost to Democrat John Fetterman in the general election, causing the GOP to lose a seat in a key presidential battleground.
McCormick has raised the possibility that he will run since losing the Senate GOP primary last year and has solidified support by appearing at local party events and raising money for Republican candidates.
He has remained in the public eye by making the rounds of conservative podcasts while on tour promoting a book he published in March.
Republicans acknowledge that Casey will be difficult to defeat.
Casey, 63, is a veteran of Pennsylvania Democratic politics, the son of a two-time former governor and the longest-serving Democrat in the Senate from Pennsylvania. He has won all of his Senate elections by at least 9 percentage points, and the last full fundraising quarter was his best quarter ever.
The Democratic Party has treated McCormick as the de facto GOP nominee for months, attacking his record in business, his opposition to abortion rights and pointing out that he still lives on Connecticut’s luxurious “Gold Coast.” , where he spent a dozen years as an executive. Hedge fund Bridgewater Associates.
McCormick emphasizes that he lives in Pittsburgh, in a home he purchased there in early 2022, and has emphasized his hometown roots in Pennsylvania, including growing up on a Christmas tree farm near Bloomsburg. Including, which they still own.
So far, McCormick has a clear GOP primary field and Republican Party officials are firmly behind McCormick.
McCormick has pledged support from two major Senate GOP donor committees — the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC tied to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell — even at the primary level.
In recent days, an ally of McCormick has been circulating a letter of support for McCormick, which includes a number of party stalwarts, including the state party chairman, two of the party’s national committee representatives and 36 of the 67 county party chairmen.
The state party meeting on Sept. 30 is approaching, and there is talk in GOP circles that McCormick will seek endorsement votes there.
McCormick has a resume that spans from the military to the highest levels of government to business.
The son of the chancellor of the first state university system of Pennsylvania, McCormick graduated from West Point, won the Bronze Star for his service in the Gulf War, earned a doctorate from Princeton University, in the administration of former President George W. Worked in senior positions and reached the Wall. Street celebrity as CEO of Bridgewater.
He ran last year amid a cacophony of carpetbaggery as one of three rich, related Republican candidates — including Oz, the heart surgeon who served as host of daytime TV’s now-defunct “The Dr. Oz Show.” Known as – who came to race from the blue states. In swing-state Pennsylvania.
Ultimately, McCormick lost the primary after spending $14 million of his own money on the race. McCormick has a reported net worth of more than $100 million, and could spend heavily again in the next race in 2024.
Source: www.witf.org
