Trump-endorsed Republican Senate hopeful David McCormick is determined to take out Democrat Bob Casey in Pennsylvania and isn’t shying away from the hard work ahead
David McCormick officially clinched the Republican nomination in Pennsylvania’s Senate race this week, but now he has to do the real work.
McCormick wants to dethrone Democratic Senator Bob Casey in the critical battleground states, which is crucial not only for Republicans seeking to regain the Senate majority, but also for the White House in November.
“We are in deep trouble as a country economically, militarily, in terms of national security and even spiritually, and we need new leadership. Bob Casey is the status quo,” McCormick told DailyMail.com in a telephone interview from his campaign bus after the state’s primary.
McCormick was able to enter the Republican Senate primary uncontested, but to voters it may seem as if he has been on a campaign tour in Pennsylvania for much longer.
Dave McCormick with wife Dina Powell after comments at his election night watch party on April 23. McCormick was unchallenged in the GOP primaries. It is his second bid in the Senate
McCormick greeted supporters at the primary. He is the former CEO of one of the world’s largest hedge funds Bridgewater Associates and previously served in the George W. Bush administration
The former hedge fund CEO and Bush administration official ran for the United States Senate in the 2022 midterm elections, but lost the primary to Trump-backed Mehmet Oz by fewer than 1,000 votes.
This cycle, Donald Trump is endorsing McCormick, and both men are on the ballot in Pennsylvania this fall.
“I think President Trump, who is at the top, will really help, as he has done in the past, to get the vote passed,” McCormick told DailyMail.com.
After endorsing his opponent last cycle, Trump officially endorsed McCormick at a rally in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, earlier this month.
On Tuesday, ex-President McCormick called by name in the hallway of Manhattan Criminal Court, where he is on trial in connection with hush-money payments, and urged Pennsylvanians to vote in the state’s primaries.
McCormick thanked him in a message on X, but the two have not appeared on the campaign trail together so far. But McCormick expects that to change.
“I’m confident that President Trump and I will overlap on the campaign trail,” McCormick told DailyMail.com. “He’s going to spend a lot of time in Pennsylvania and our interests are very much aligned.”
“That being said, you know, I’m my own person. I’m going to run my own campaign. “I am running for Senate,” he added.
Former President Trump endorsed McCormick at a rally in Schnecksville, PA on April 13. McCormick had a family obligation and was not at his meeting. He told DailyMail.com that he believes his path will cross with Trump as the campaign heats up
It comes as more than 156,000 voters in the Republican primaries voted for Nikki Haley over Trump on Tuesday, six weeks after she dropped out of the presidential race, signaling the ex-president has work to do to consolidate his own base in the Keystone State . .
But McCormick doesn’t see that as a problem for his campaign.
“I think the most striking thing about my campaign is how unified it is,” McCormick said.
“I got the party’s nomination six months ago, the entire Congress delegation supported me many months ago. “It’s everyone from Scott Perry, the former chairman of the Freedom Caucus, to Brian Fitzpatrick, the co-chair of the Problem Solvers Caucus,” he added.
McCormick meeting with supporters ahead of the April 23 Pennsylvania Senate primary
McCormick asserted that Republicans have their differences, but they are “modest compared to the profound difference we have with the Democratic party and especially with the progressive wing of the part that pulls it to the left.”
But when it comes to the Senate, Republicans appeared less united on the most recent vote: the $95 billion foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.
The legislation was passed 79 to 18 on Tuesday evening. All but two Democrats in the Senate voted in favor, while 31 Republicans voted in favor and 15 against.
“In the end, I’m not sure how I would have voted,” McCormick revealed to DailyMail.com. “I would have fought very hard not to let that be the package.”
McCormick has been very supportive of Israel, claiming he is a “powerful voice on the need to support Ukraine.”
‘To be honest, I was disappointed with the legislation. I was disappointed because it seemed to include about $10 billion in non-military aid; I wouldn’t have supported that,” McCormick said. “It did not include compensation for the additional expenses.”
McCormick also called the protests taking place on college campuses across the country “disgraceful.”
“I think these kids are turning around when it comes to clarity about what is right and wrong and what the difference is between right and wrong,” he said. “I think it’s a failure, and you see it clearly, the failure of leaders at our universities and across the country to demonstrate moral clarity and leadership in dealing with these circumstances.”
He also said it is “indicative of a spiritual decline in the country.”
Senator Bob Casey speaks in Washington on April 10, 2024. The RealClearPolitics average of Pennsylvania Senate polls shows him leading McCormick by more than five points in the swing state. Casey has served in the Senate since 2007
McCormick accused his opponent Casey of voting with Biden “98 percent of the time” and supporting policies that have led to inflation, the border crisis, crime and the “war on energy.”
But with about six months to go before the election, the latest Franklin & Marshall poll from early April shows Casey McCormick leading the state by seven points, 46 percent to 39 percent.
On primary day, Casey, who also crossed the state this week, posted on X: “There are 196 days until the general election, and we are going to win.”
But McCormick said he is working to build the coalition needed to win.
“This is a huge state and there are a lot of rural areas that are overwhelmingly Republican, and the key is to spend a lot of time there,” McCormick said.
“And then of course there are the suburban areas and the urban areas that are more on the fence, and so the focus there is on building a coalition of key voters from the Independents and conservative Democrats and other parts of the electorate, ‘ he continued.