Casey, McCormick to meet for first debate in Pennsylvania’s battleground Senate race

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Republican challenger David McCormick will meet Thursday night for their first debate in an expensive race for a swing-state seat that could help determine control of the Senate in November’s election.

Casey, perhaps Pennsylvania’s best-known politician, is seeking a fourth term and is facing what he calls his toughest reelection challenge yet.

Casey, 64, is a staunch ally of labor unions, a former state auditor general and treasurer and Pennsylvania’s longest-serving Democrat in the Senate. He has campaigned on preserving the middle class, abortion rights, labor rights and voting rights, and calls McCormick and former President Donald Trump a threat to all those.

McCormick, 59, is making his second run for the Senate after losing narrowly to Dr. Mehmet Oz in 2022’s Republican primary. He is a former hedge fund CEO who served at the highest levels of former President George W. Bush’s administration and sat on Trump’s Defense Advisory Board.

He has accused Casey of rubber-stamping Biden administration policies on immigration, the economy, energy and national security that he blames for inflation, domestic turmoil and war. He also has attacked Casey as out of touch after being in elected office for almost three decades.

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Casey, in turn, has attacked McCormick as a carpetbagger from Connecticut’s ritzy “ Gold Coast ” who got rich at the expense of others while an executive at a hedge fund there.

Casey has been a key player for Democrats trying to reframe the election-year narrative about the economy by attacking “greedflation” — a blunt term for corporations jacking up prices and ripping off shoppers to maximize profits — as fast-rising prices opened a big soft spot in 2024 for Democrats.

McCormick, meanwhile, has made a bid for Jewish voters by traveling to the Israel-Gaza border, speaking to Jewish audiences across the state and arguing that Casey and the Biden administration have not fought antisemitism or backed Israel strongly enough in the Israel-Hamas war.

Democrats currently hold a Senate majority by the narrowest of margins but face a difficult 2024 Senate map. A Casey loss could guarantee Republican control of the Senate.

More than $150 million has been spent on the race so far, according to Federal Election Commission records, and the total is on track to exceed $300 million, based on campaign ad tracking by AdImpact, which includes spots reserved between now and Election Day.

The 60-minute debate will air on TV starting at 8 p.m. across Pennsylvania and stream live online. The debate is being hosted by WHTM-TV in Harrisburg.

The candidates have agreed to another debate, to be held at a Philadelphia TV station Oct. 15.

Both Casey and McCormick were uncontested for their party’s nominations in the primary election.

Also on the Nov. 5 Senate ballot are John Thomas of the Libertarian Party, Leila Hazou of the Green Party and Marty Selker of the Constitution Party. They were not invited to the debate.

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Follow Marc Levy at twitter.com/timelywriter.