Another likely GOP senate candidate has been accused of carpetbagging, with a new report suggesting David McCormick spends more time at his mansion on the Connecticut coast than he does in Pennsylvania’s Rust Belt.
McCormick, 58, narrowly lost a GOP primary for the Senate to Dr. Mehmet Oz after Donald Trump came in and endorsed the television celebrity. Oz later lost the general election to Senator John Fetterman, then the state’s lieutenant governor—a loss that McCormick says can be attributed in part to Oz’s loose ties to the state.
McCormick has not announced a candidacy for the Democrat Sen. seat. Bob Casey in 2024, but he’s a top Republican recruit to do that.
In January 2022, McCormick sold his $6.5 million home in Fairfield, Connecticut, and purchased a $2.8 million home in the Shadyside neighborhood of Pittsburgh. However, he did not receive a tax exemption on the property – a tax break reserved for a person’s primary residence.
In January 2022, McCormick sold his $6.5 million home in Fairfield, Connecticut, and purchased a $2.8 million home in the Shadyside neighborhood of Pittsburgh.
Street view of McCormick’s home in Pittsburgh – which he bought without a tax exemption
According to the Associated Press report, McCormick appears to be spending more time at the $16 million mansion in Westport, Connecticut, than at the Pittsburgh home. The Connecticut house is on the state’s Gold Coast, a suburban enclave teeming with wealthy Manhattan residents. It overlooks the Long Island Sound.
The six-bedroom, nine-bathroom two-acre estate also includes a 450-foot wine cellar, an outdoor fireplace, and a hot tub overlooking the waterfront.
The Connecticut address has appeared on documents as his home address, including on paperwork for the sale of his $13 million Upper East Side apartment in New York City.
McCormick spokesperson Elizabeth Gregory called the AP report a “garbage story” and said the potential senate candidate spends time there to be closer to his daughters, who attend a $53,000 private high school in Connecticut.
McCormick shares four daughters with ex-wife Amy Richardson.
McCormick seems to spend more time in the $16 million mansion in Westport, Connecticut, than the Pittsburgh home
Interior view of the house in Connecticut
The six-bedroom, nine-bathroom 2-acre estate also includes a 450-foot wine cellar, an outdoor fireplace, and a pool and hot tub overlooking the waterfront
“Bob Casey and John Fetterman should be ashamed of themselves for spreading these bullshit stories,” Gregory wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Unlike Casey and Fetterman, (McCormick) proudly served our country in combat after being nominated by a Pennsylvania senator for West Point.”
“The son of two public school teachers in Pennsylvania, (McCormick lives in the commonwealth and has spent most of his life in PA, coming from humble roots, graduating from public schools, and later raising his young family and creating jobs in Western Pennsylvania,” she continued. “And to label him a private individual because he also spends time where his daughters now go to school is disgraceful.”
On Monday, Fetterman posted a meme of U.S. airline passenger Tiffany Gomas that went viral last month when a taped rant saying “that m***erf***er ain’t real” was posted on social media.
In Fetterman’s edited version of the video, she said, “That son of a bitch is not a PA native.”
McCormick voted in Pennsylvania elections for the first time in 16 years in 2022.
In the spring, a series of video interviews McCormick gave appeared to have been done at the Connecticut home. A $5,000 campaign contribution made in late March also lists the beachfront house as McCormick’s home.
McCormick narrowly lost a 2022 GOP Senate primary to Dr. Oz
McCormick was raised in Western Pennsylvania by two college professors. After attending West Point, he was employed for a few years before joining McKinsey in Pittsburgh as a consultant, before joining Bridgewater Associates and later becoming CEO
McCormick was raised in Western Pennsylvania by two college professors. After attending West Point, he was employed for a few years before joining McKinsey in Pittsburgh as a consultant, before joining Bridgewater Associates and later becoming CEO.
He served in the Bush administration in the Finance and Commerce Departments. Trump had at one point considered McCormick for defense secretary before turning his back on the finance director, accusing him of having close ties to China. McCormick is married to Dina Powell, who served as Deputy National Security Adviser in the Trump administration.
Before McCormick, Oz was accused of carpetbagging: The longtime New Jersey native bought real estate in a Philadelphia suburb shortly before the campaign.
Last week a Washington Post report claimed the Alabama GOP senator. Tommy Tuberville spent more time at his Santa Rosa, Florida beach house than his wife and son’s property in Auburn, Alabama.