Current:Home > FinanceCasey, McCormick to meet for first debate in Pennsylvania’s battleground Senate race-LoTradeCoin
Casey, McCormick to meet for first debate in Pennsylvania’s battleground Senate race
View Date:2024-12-23 19:59:47
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.
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.
___
Follow Marc Levy at twitter.com/timelywriter.
veryGood! (28)
Related
- He failed as a service dog. But that didn't stop him from joining the police force
- In the Race to Develop the Best Solar Power Materials, What If the Key Ingredient Is Effort?
- In the Amazon, Indigenous and Locally Controlled Land Stores Carbon, but the Rest of the Rainforest Emits Greenhouse Gases
- Mathematical Alarms Could Help Predict and Avoid Climate Tipping Points
- Firefighters make progress, but Southern California wildfire rages on
- Turn Your House Into a Smart Home With These 19 Prime Day 2023 Deals: Ring Doorbell, Fire TV Stick & More
- These 14 Prime Day Teeth Whitening Deals Will Make You Smile Nonstop
- How Riley Keough Is Celebrating Her First Emmy Nomination With Husband Ben Smith-Petersen
- Brands Our Editors Are Thankful For in 2024
- Robert De Niro's Girlfriend Tiffany Chen Diagnosed With Bell's Palsy After Welcoming Baby Girl
Ranking
- Kyle Richards Swears This Holiday Candle Is the Best Scent Ever and She Uses It All Year
- Outdated EPA Standards Allow Oil Refineries to Pollute Waterways
- Zayn Malik Reveals the Real Reason He Left One Direction
- Q&A: Cancer Alley Is Real, And Louisiana Officials Helped Create It, Researchers Find
- Princess Kate makes rare public appearance after completing cancer chemo
- A 3M Plant in Illinois Was The Country’s Worst Emitter of a Climate-Killing ‘Immortal’ Chemical in 2021
- Striking actors and studios fight over control of performers' digital replicas
- Star player Zhang Shuai quits tennis match after her opponent rubs out ball mark in disputed call
Recommendation
-
Tony Todd, star of 'Candyman,' 'Final Destination,' dies at 69
-
In Dimock, a Pennsylvania Town Riven by Fracking, Concerns About Ties Between a Judge and a Gas Driller
-
Viasat reveals problems unfurling huge antenna on powerful new broadband satellite
-
Texas Oilfield Waste Company Contributed $53,750 to Regulators Overseeing a Controversial Permit Application
-
Fantasy football waiver wire: 10 players to add for NFL Week 11
-
Kourtney Kardashian Proves Pregnant Life Is Fantastic in Barbie Pink Bump-Baring Look
-
The Best Portable Grill Deals from Amazon Prime Day 2023: Coleman, Cuisinart, and Ninja Starting at $20
-
Meet the Millennial Scientist Leading the Biden Administration’s Push for a Nuclear Power Revival