Dave McCormick, the Republican candidate for Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate seat, finished touring the state’s 67 counties on Friday.
This isn’t quite the “All-Grassley” presidential election, with candidates visiting all 99 counties before the Iowa caucuses, but with a close race between President Biden and former President Trump in Pennsylvania and uncertainty over who will control the Senate, every point and all 67 counties matters.
After covering 42,000 miles, McCormick celebrated his final of 345 stops at an Italian restaurant in Matamoras. He enjoyed pizza and sodas while addressing about 30 supporters at the event on Friday afternoon before Memorial Day weekend.
“I’m very excited to plant the flag today because it shows our commitment to travel throughout our great state and meet with people in all of our communities,” McCormick said in an exclusive interview with Fox News after a visit to Pike County on Friday. “I think how you campaign is important in being a senator, and I intend to be a senator that represents all of Pennsylvania, not just urban areas.”
According to a New York Times/Siena College/Philadelphia Inquirer poll conducted April 28-May 9, McCormick’s opponent, Democratic Senator Bob Casey, holds a two-point lead.
The milestone for McCormick’s campaign came on the heels of a Broad & Liberty report accusing Casey of lying about visiting all 67 counties each year. The report used X number of posts as the metric for counting Casey’s campaign stops across the state and concluded that Casey has only visited 39 counties since January 2023. According to internal documents obtained by Fox News, Casey visited all 67 counties in 2022 but only 63 in 2023.
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Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate Dave McCormick records a video along the U.S.-Mexico border after being briefed by officials in Yuma, Arizona, on May 18, 2024. (Dave McCormick Senate Campaign)
Casey’s spokesman stressed that the quality of visits is more important than the number of visits, and said that not all campaign activities are posted online. His Senate office keeps track of the first and last visits to each county each year. For example, in 2023, Casey visited Lehigh County for the first time on January 6, 2023, and his last visit was on December 21, 2023. That doesn’t mean he hasn’t visited Lehigh County a few times in between. McCormick isn’t convinced.
““He said he visits every county every year,” McCormick told Fox News on Friday, “so he can show evidence. I don’t see any evidence that he visits every county every year.”
To McCormick, the county controversy is more than just hearsay — he says it’s about standing up for Pennsylvanians across the state.
““There are numerous instances where Bob Casey has said one thing and done another,” McCormick told Fox News on Friday. “He stands up and says his and Biden’s policies will bring down inflation, and then he’s recorded in the room saying, hey, listen, there’s nothing we can do to bring prices down. Or he says he supports policies that guarantee sourcing from American industry, but then he votes for that policy and throws out the exception because his and Biden’s EV policies don’t have enough support from American industry. So Bob Casey has said one thing and done another on numerous occasions, and I don’t think he’s been forthright with the people of Pennsylvania.”
McCormick, who has the backing of former President Donald Trump, has consistently linked Casey to President Biden. The day after accepting the Republican nomination, McCormick released an ad accusing Casey of voting for Biden “98 percent.”
“Bob Casey’s failure to visit these counties, and his lies about it, are a prime example of how he’s out of step with most Pennsylvanians, and why most Pennsylvanians can’t name one accomplishment for Bob Casey,” McCormick continued last Friday. “They can’t believe he voted for Joe Biden 98% of the time. So I’m just pointing out the connection between the lies about the county visits and how his positions have become more and more liberal, more and more caving to the progressive left, and more and more out of step with the state of Pennsylvania.”
Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) speaks at the Inaugural Dinner in Philadelphia on November 1, 2019. (Bastiaan Slabbers/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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On the eve of the Pennsylvania primary, McCormick was a Senate candidate fending off accusations that he lied. The New York Times reported that he had exaggerated details about his upbringing, particularly about growing up on a Pennsylvania farm. McCormick has denied the allegations, and his background has become a symbol of his Senate campaign and a staple of his speeches.
“My parents ran a family farm,” McCormick told the Pike County group on Friday, “and they lived in the town of Bloomsburg. My dad worked at the university, and I baled hay. I decorated Christmas trees. I waited at a hotel. I was a paperboy with two paper routes. I played football, I wrestled, I hunted.”
Pennsylvania Democrats, who nicknamed him “Connecticut Dave” because he flies to Pennsylvania to campaign and rents a house in Westport, Connecticut, have taken every opportunity to call him a liar.
“I don’t think he’s being honest with people about living in Pennsylvania. He lives in Connecticut in a $16 million house,” Casey told Fox News in an exclusive interview in April. “I think this is a pattern of misrepresenting very basic things about where you live or where you used to live. I don’t know why he would refer to his upbringing in a way that’s not completely true. He has a lot to be proud of. He’s accomplished a lot in his life. And he should talk about what he’s accomplished, instead of trying to create an image that’s completely meaningless, like maybe at one point he mentioned he was a farmer. I think you should be honest and sincere with the people that you’re trying to represent.”
When asked by Fox News why Pennsylvania voters should trust McCormick over Casey, McCormick said he’s not one to shy away from criticism — and he’s urging Casey to do the same.
“I’m a seventh-generation Pennsylvanian,” McCormick said. “I grew up here. I left here to join the military, went to West Point and then fought in combat. I came back and created jobs. That’s the leadership background and experience I bring to the table.” “Bob Casey should answer this question. He clearly lied. I’m happy to answer any questions. And, you know, politics is a contact sport, but I’m happy to answer any questions about my record and why I think I can serve the people of Pennsylvania well.”
Republican Senate candidate Dave McCormick kicked off his campaign bus tour in Lititz, Pennsylvania on February 10, 2024. (Dave McCormick camp)
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Meanwhile, Casey’s campaign is trying to reverse its position against McCormick.
“Senator Casey is known for his integrity and the work he has accomplished for our state, while Connecticut billionaire David McCormick has lied about everything from where he lives to the details of his life to his history of investing millions of dollars in Chinese military companies,” Casey spokeswoman Kate Smart told Fox News on Friday.
With five months to go until the general election, the assassinations (or campaigning) against Pennsylvania’s candidates show no signs of abating.
