David McCormick jumps into Pennsylvania Senate race against Bob Casey

David McCormick, the former hedge fund executive, announced he’s running for Senate in Pennsylvania on Thursday, seeking to challenge Democratic incumbent Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) after losing the Republican nomination for the state’s other Senate seat in 2022.

McCormick’s candidacy is a win for Senate Republicans, who have spent months working to recruit him to run against Casey, a three-term senator who won by 13 percentage points in 2018. Last cycle, he lost narrowly to celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz in the Senate primary. Oz went on to lose to Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) in the general election, which contributed to Democrats keeping control of the Senate. Ever since, GOP leadership has focused on McCormick running again, acknowledging he could be their best shot at flipping Casey’s seat.

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Speaking to a crowd at Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh on Thursday night, McCormick reintroduced himself to Pennsylvania voters and even reflected on the previous election.

“While I’ve had my share of successes, like many Pennsylvanians, I’ve also had my share of personal and professional failures, whether it was losing on the wrestling mat, getting fired from a job, or losing an election,” McCormick said in his speech. “In each case, I’ve pulled myself up, dusted myself off, learned from my mistakes, and moved forward. That’s what leaders do. That’s what Pennsylvanians do.”

Unlike last cycle, McCormick launched his bid with an open field. Doug Mastriano, a failed gubernatorial candidate who denied the 2020 election results, considered running but ultimately passed on a Senate bid.

The 58-year-old has an impressive resume: Gulf War veteran, West Point graduate, holder of a doctoral degree from Princeton, and veteran of the George W. Bush administration who then went on to run one of the largest hedge funds. McCormick enters the race with the support of each Republican member of Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation and The National Republican Senatorial Committee.

“Dave McCormick has done a remarkable job of unifying the grassroots in Pennsylvania,” said Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT), chairman of the committee, in a statement. “Dave is exactly the type of candidate who can win both a primary and a general election in one of the most competitive states in the country. It’s great news that Dave is stepping up to serve our country once again.”

Following McCormick’s announcement, the committee launched a digital ad criticizing Casey, a preview of how Republicans plan to attack the Pennsylvania senator during the campaign. The committee has already attempted to frame Casey as a “shady” and corrupt politician, highlighting everything from his lobbyist brother to the money his campaign gave to his sister’s printing business. A spokesperson for Casey previously told Politico he follows all Senate ethics rules.

McCormick also took aim at Casey, the son of a popular former Pennsylvania governor, and his ties to President Joe Biden.

“My opponent is part of the problem. He first ran for office almost thirty years ago. Bob Casey can’t change Washington. Bob Casey is Washington,” McCormick said. “My opponent is a rubber stamp. More to the point, he is Joe Biden’s rubber stamp. When Joe Biden says jump, Bob Casey says how high. When Joe Biden says vote, Bob Casey says which way. And when Joe Biden comes calling, Bob Casey comes running.

Casey’s candidacy brings the power of incumbency and unmatched name recognition to a state where the Senate majority could be decided during a presidential election year. Casey has run statewide seven times and has won six of those races. McCormick’s campaign acknowledges beating Casey won’t be easy.

“We know this is going to be a tough fight. We don’t think anything otherwise,” said a McCormick campaign strategist during a background call with reporters on Thursday. “This is a race that we can win, that we‘re strongly positioned to win. David is going to communicate tonight a strong message on the contrast between him and Sen. Casey. We’re going to spend the next 14 months going around the state, everywhere we can, to tell that story.”

McCormick, a native of Pennsylvania, is already facing scrutiny for the time he spent out of state running a hedge fund business. He rents a home in Connecticut and, until recently, owned a condo on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, which Pennsylvania Democrats quickly highlighted.

“The real David McCormick is a mega-millionaire Connecticut hedge fund executive who is lying about living in Pennsylvania,” the Pennsylvania Democrats said in a release.

The campaign said McCormick “will address” those concerns “head-on and directly” in the coming weeks.

“He has spent a huge chunk of his life in Pennsylvania. The reality is that Dave is a divorced dad; he has a daughter in Connecticut who is in high school. He’s going to spend time with his kids, so you know, we’re never going to apologize for that,” the campaign strategist said.

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McCormick’s candidacy will serve as a litmus test of whether Republicans can flip a seat in a state that has been a battleground state in the past. The Keystone State had a Republican and Democratic senator for more than a decade until Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) retired in January. Casey is among a group of five Senate Democrats who hail from states that President Joe Biden won by less than 4 percentage points in 2020.

The race between Casey and McCormick could become one of the most expensive and contested Senate races in the country in 2024 as Democrats defend their thin 51-49 majority.