In Crucial PA Senate Race, Dave McCormick’s Dem Opponent Launches Dubious Attacks

Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) has made a number of dubious statements during the 2024 election cycle against his Republican challenger, businessman and veteran Dave McCormick, on a slew of issues from the border to abortion.

The pair, who faced off in a debate Tuesday night, are fighting one of the most closely-watched races in the country that could decide which party controls the Senate next year.

McCormick is an Army combat veteran who served in Iraq. He was previously a hedge fund CEO, and he also served as the Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs during the George W. Bush administration.

Casey is seeking his fourth term as senator from Pennsylvania.

On illegal immigration, Casey has said he is “fighting to secure our border” and even used a border wall image in a campaign ad despite previously calling a wall a “waste of money.”

“President Trump doesn’t seem to get it. He’s not getting a concrete or steel wall along the width of the border- never, ever, ever, ever,” Casey said in 2019.

President Trump doesn’t seem to get it. He’s not getting a concrete or steel wall along the width of the border- never, ever, ever, ever. https://t.co/5OlMnBA8pp

— Senator Bob Casey (@SenBobCasey) January 5, 2019

Casey also claimed McCormick supports “a total abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or incest.” McCormick has said he is pro-life, but supports abortion exceptions for rape, incest, and life of the mother.

Casey was first elected in 2007 as a rare pro-life Democrat, but he has since loudly supported abortion, even voting for the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would enshrine legal abortion in federal law.

Casey has also said he is “proud to stand with Pennsylvania’s law enforcement officers,” and that safety is a “top priority” for him.

However, Casey was endorsed earlier this year by a progressive group that has called for police departments to be defunded.

I retired from the Army as a captain after a combat tour in Iraq, but I've never stopped serving my country.

I'm a seventh-generation Pennsylvanian, political outsider, & PA job creator.

Bob Casey is a weak, liberal, 30-year career politician who has failed our commonwealth. pic.twitter.com/NnuK1F25Su

— Dave McCormick (@DaveMcCormickPA) October 16, 2024

Casey also vowed he is “committed to fighting the fentanyl crisis,” but he has voted against a total of $800 million for opioid and narcotic detection. Earlier this year, he introduced a bill he claimed would help stop fentanyl at the border, but the bill never made it out of committee.

Nearly 4,000 Pennsylvanians died from fentanyl in the 12-month period that ended in May.

Casey also said he understands the “economic benefits and energy independence that Pennsylvania’s energy industry provides.”

However, six different times, Casey has introduced a bill, the FRAC Act, that he says would allow “rigorous oversight” by the Environmental Protection Agency. The bill would hamstring drilling, kill hundreds of thousands of jobs, and cause higher energy prices, according to energy groups.

About 20,000 Pennsylvanians work in the fracking industry.

Vice President Kamala Harris said in 2019 that she was “in favor of banning fracking,” but she has backtracked on that position this year.

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Casey has taken aim at McCormick over seniors as well, claiming that the Republican will “slash your Medicare and Social Security and cut Medicaid for nursing home care.”

McCormick’s team pushed back strongly, pointing out that even The Washington Post gave Casey four “Pinocchios” for this claim, which the paper called “made up.”

McCormick has been very clear that he will oppose any changes in benefits for seniors, his campaign said.

Casey also accused McCormick of having “ties to Vladimir Putin’s personal slush fund,” claiming he invested nearly half a billion dollars into Russian sovereign bonds.

McCormick’s campaign called these “imaginary ties” and pointed out that Casey himself as Pennsylvania state treasurer oversaw pension investments in Russian bonds totaling more than $197 million.

Another of Casey’s bills, supported by President Biden but stuck in committee, would enact price controls on companies. The bill was slammed by a Washington Post columnist, who said it would “make the problem worse.”

Casey has also promised to “fight for a middle-class tax cut.” The McCormick campaign pointed out that Casey voted against former President Donald Trump’s tax cuts and opposes renewing them before they expire next year.

Meanwhile, Casey voted for several bills greenlighting the Biden administration’s trillions of dollars in spending while blaming inflation on corporate profits.

Matt Gruda, McCormick’s campaign manager, declared victory after the debate, calling Casey a “weak career politician, who is a sure vote for Kamala Harris’s liberal agenda.”

“Casey doubled down on the same failed policies that have sent the cost of living skyrocketing, restricted Pennsylvania energy, allowed crime to run rampant across the commonwealth, and thrown open our borders, enabling fentanyl to kill 4,000 Pennsylvanians last year,” Gruda said.

The Pennsylvania Senate race has razor-thin margins. Casey leads McCormick by just three percentage points, and the latest polls show that lead eroding.

Currently, Democrats control the upper chamber by just one seat with 51 members who vote with them, while Republicans control 49 seats.