Republican Senate candidate Dave McCormick is tugging at the heartstrings of Pennsylvanians in a new campaign ad aimed at his Democratic opponent that depicts fentanyl and the impact that open border policies that allow its free flow have on American families.
So 30 second spotBlair County Sheriff Jim Ott spoke solemnly to the camera, sharing his own experience with fentanyl, not only as a police officer but as a family member.
“Three high school students die every day from fentanyl. I see that as a sheriff. As a father, it happened to me,” Ott said as piano played softly in the background.
And then the attack begins.
“If the border was secure, there's a good chance my son would still be alive,” Ott continued.
“We can't bring back the people we lost, but we can remove the weak politicians like Bob Casey who allowed this to happen.”
Fentanyl killed 4,000 in Pennsylvania McCormick's campaign has criticized the drug epidemic and the deaths it causes, saying that he is a three-term incumbent. Public Opinion Poll.
Record Breaker Illegal immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border under the Biden administration has spurred Republican messaging that highlights the role of lax border security as a cause of fentanyl deaths.
Ott's ad is the latest blow fired in the Casey-McCormick race, a hotly contested battleground state where ad spending is expected to set records this election cycle.
In July, Casey attacked McCormick, who was CEO of Bridgewater Associates. $1.7 million Senator Casey owned stock in China's largest synthetic drug manufacturer, and when Senator McCormick discovered that Senator Casey held 3 cents worth of stock in the company in his personal stock portfolio, he fired back, calling Senator Casey “the ultimate liar and hypocrite.”
Now the fentanyl charge has reached the southern border.
Last week, a PAC supporting McCormick ran an ad for the Beaver County sheriff. Tie Casey's Open Borders Policy for Fentanyl, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers.
A new sheriff came to town this week to represent McCormick, and he's not holding back.
“If I could speak to Senator Casey, wouldn't you say if something like this happened to your family, wouldn't you do everything you could to make sure they didn't break into your home? Would you do whatever it took to make sure they were safe?” Ott said. 2 minute version Advertisement.
But other activists fighting the fentanyl crisis don't blame Casey.
Last week, Casey hosted Gregory Swan. The Father of FentanylHe visited homes in Pittsburgh and met with other families affected by the fentanyl crisis and heard their stories.
Swan's organization, which educates young Americans about the dangers of fentanyl, had one of its representatives appear in a commercial with Casey defending his record on the issue.
“When it comes to the fentanyl ban, he got it passed into federal law, so he's no light player when it comes to fentanyl,” Swann told The Post.
The law he refers to Sanctions The production and trafficking of illicit fentanyl and its precursors by Chinese criminal organizations and Mexican drug cartels.
Still, Swan isn't entirely convinced by the Democrats' policy solutions.
“The border is not secure, that's our problem,” Swann said.
“The influx of immigrants bringing in drugs is definitely the work of the Democrats. There are a lot of people who aren't being screened. The influx is growing and growing.”
In addition to prevention through interdiction and awareness of Chinese-made fentanyl precursors, Swan said, Testicles It’s to deal with the cartels.”
McCormick proposed a more aggressive solution, telling The Washington Post, “We should identify the cartels as terrorist organizations and use military force to destroy them.”
