Bob Casey and Dave McCormick are locked in a neck-and-neck election which could determine control of the Senate.
In the first of two scheduled debates, incumbent Democratic Sen. Bob Casey faced his Republican challenger, businessman Dave McCormick in the studio of Harrisburg’s ABC27. The candidates traded jabs the entire debate, accusing each other of having poor character, with McCormick calling Casey a “weak, liberal career politician. Casey criticized McCormick, arguing he was “beholden to big corporations” and made a living investing in China. Casey was referencing McCormick’s background in business and history as the CEO of a hedge fund.
Both candidates tried to tie their opponent to the top of their respective ticket, with Casey saying McCormick isn’t independent enough from Trump to support a border security bill in the Senate that received bipartisan support. McCormick argued that because of the border crisis, America is “less secure” and blamed Casey and Democratic leadership, saying Casey was on record having “supported sanctuary cities.” On several occasions, McCormick also reminded viewers that Casey votes with President Joe Biden 99% of the time.
With the economy and cost of living being among the top issues on voters’ minds, McCormick and Casey presented radically different arguments. Casey blamed what he calls “greedflation”, arguing “big corporations rig” the cost of goods. He boasted of his support for a bill he co-sponsored with Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren that would ban “price gouging.” McCormick hit back, saying “the out of control spending of Biden-Harris” is to blame for inflation.
On local economic issues, while both candidates agreed to not support the purchase of Pennsylvania-based U.S. Steel by a Japanese company, McCormick criticized Casey for failing to fight for the state by helping the company receive environmental permits, which led to the cancellation of a multi-billion dollar project. Casey retorted that McCormick was living in Connecticut at the time and that “he doesn’t have standing to talk about what should have been done in Pennsylvania.”
When the current conflict between Israel and Iran’s proxies Hezbollah and Hamas was brought up, both Casey and McCormick said America should stand with Israel but not commit American troops to the conflict.
Casey found himself in a difficult position when he initially refused to answer a question from the moderator about whether Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris, who replaced Biden as the Democratic nominee for president, would be better for Pennsylvania. Casey eventually said he didn’t have an answer and that the voters of Pennsylvania will ultimately answer that question.
After the debate, ABC27 posted an online poll asking viewers to vote on who won the debate, with McCormick receiving two-thirds of the vote. The two are scheduled to meet again on October 15th in Philadelphia.
