At dueling events just outside of Pittsburgh on Thursday, supporters of the campaigns of Pennsylvania Senate contenders Dave McCormick and Bob Casey lauded their candidates’ records — and criticized their opponents.
Democrat Bob Casey is defending a seat he has held for three terms, while Republican Dave McCormick is going for the Senate again after he lost the 2022 Republican primary to Mehmet Oz.
The Casey event was held at a Ross Township field office for Congressional candidate Chris Deluzio. While Casey himself wasn’t present at the event due to a funeral, Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona spoke in support of his campaign, and praised the incumbent Pennsylvania Senator’s past record on veterans’ issues.
“Bob has been a leader on veterans issues during my time in the Senate, which is three-and-a-half years now,” Kelly told a group of around a dozen supporters, some of them veterans. “And he's key to maintaining the majority so we can continue to get things done for veterans and get bipartisan legislation done.”
Kelly held up Casey’s past support for the Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) act, a law that expanded VA health care and benefits for veterans exposed to toxic substances.
Kelly and DeLuzio criticized Republicans, like former Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey, for not supporting the PACT Act.
“There are folks who voted to send Americans to wars in places like Iraq, who then voted against the PACT Act to provide care for the very veterans they sent off to war,” Deluzio said. Voters “expect us to care for those who've served, whether at peace or at war. Now, I think it shows just how out of touch some of my Republican colleagues were, they were willing to vote against care for burn pit exposed veterans, toxic exposed veterans.”
Kelly denounced McCormick and former President Donald Trump for focusing on tax cuts that benefit the wealthy. He pointed to McCormick’s past investments in Chinese aircraft manufacturing companies when he was CEO of Bridgewater, which he found concerning from a national security perspective.
McCormick’s campaign has previously said the firm relied on government guidance about which companies represented a security threat. But Kelly said, “Here's a guy running for the United States Senate that is invested in companies, which means you supported those companies, in the development of weapons systems. … I've got a problem with that.”
McCormick and Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan appeared at a Fraternal Order of Police lodge in West Homestead to talk about Republican support for law enforcement. They criticized Casey and the Democratic Party’s approach to law enforcement and public safety, accusing Democrats of being soft on crime.
Matthew Feldmeier, endorsement chair for FOP Lodge 91, slammed Casey for not appearing enough at police events.
“A lot of people nickname Bob Casey ‘Punxsutawney Bob.’ Well, I think he's actually worse than that. I call him ‘Leap Year Bob,’ because you only see him every four years. At least Punxsutawney Phil comes out once a year,” he said.
“He comes out in May and he campaigns until November and puts his arms around a couple of police like he's supporting the police. We don't see him the other five-and-a-half years he is in office.”
Sullivan said McCormick would provide a “common sense approach” to national security and law enforcement, and said Democrats do not support police enough.
“What we fully lack in D.C. right now in terms of law enforcement, in terms of our police, is common sense,” Sullivan said.
When asked for his reaction to Democrat criticism of the GOP’s record on veteran issues, McCormick pointed to his support of veteran suicide prevention.
“We need to do more for our veterans,” he said. “The intersection of mental health, homelessness and and the crisis we have among many veterans with veteran suicide is where I'd like to play a role.”
“Law enforcement has a lot of veterans,” added Sullivan. “And so, the fact that a lot of our Democrat friends in the Senate aren't supporting law enforcement, they're not supporting veterans, too.”
