HARRISBURG, Pa. – Democratic Sen. Bob Casey went head-to-head with Republican challenger Dave McCormick in the first debate Thursday night, reflecting the close nature and high stakes of a race that could help determine the balance of power in Washington.
The hour-long fight touched on topics from the economy to abortion to energy — and often got personal as each candidate repeatedly tried to paint the other as a liar. Casey targeted questions about McCormick’s residency and work as a hedge fund manager, while McCormick attacked the three-term Casey as a career politician who is a rubber stamp for Democratic leaders.
“Probably the biggest lie ever told in the entire election,” Casey said, “was when my opponent said he lived in Pennsylvania when he lived in Connecticut.”
McCormick claimed to live in Pennsylvania when he launched his Senate campaign in 2024, as well as when he lost to Mehmet Oz in the 2022 Republican primary. He has a home in Pittsburgh and a family farm in Bloomsburg, and he previously had a residence in Connecticut, where his daughter from a previous marriage lives.
“I’m a seventh-generation Pennsylvanian,” he said, admitting he recently lived in Connecticut when he was a hedge fund CEO.
It’s a strategy Democrats have emphasized since the start of the campaign, and one that proved successful for them in 2022, when Democrat John Fetterman defeated Oz, whose home state is New Jersey. Outside the WHTM-TV studio where Casey and McCormick debated, many people who joined Casey’s campaign held signs calling McCormick an out-of-state candidate.
McCormick tried to deflect the line of attack on the debate stage, arguing that Casey had little show for his long career in public office.
“If you don’t have a record to work on, which Senator Casey doesn’t have, you attack your opponent,” McCormick responded. “I remind your viewers to go to Caseylies.com because he tells everyone; there are a lot of Pinocchios here,” he said.
Casey repeatedly addressed McCormick’s Wall Street career, particularly Bridgewater Associates’ investments in China when McCormick controlled the fund. McCormick said the investments represent 3% of the company’s total portfolio.
“It was bought and paid for by these billionaires and corporations,” Casey said.
Polls show Casey and McCormick locked in a tight race that could play a big role in determining which party wins control of the narrowly divided Senate this fall. They are also under pressure to align with their party’s presidential nominees, with Pennsylvania serving as a critical state in the race for the White House.
“You. When Casey could barely finish a sentence, he stood by Joe Biden — we saw that on the debate stage — and said he was ready to go,” McCormick said, referring to Casey’s support for Biden when many other Democrats kept their distance after his June debate performance. .
Casey quickly changed his tune when Vice President Kamala Harris replaced Biden as the Democratic nominee, McCormick said. “You. Casey said, ‘Kamala Harris is great!'” McCormick said.
If Harris replacing Biden was the best decision for the party, Casey said, “we’ll never know the answer.”
“The voters will decide. … I think Vice President Harris is running a strong campaign,” Casey said. “I think he will carry Pennsylvania; it will be very close.”
McCormick, who regularly campaigned with former President Donald Trump, said he disagreed with him on some policy proposals. He noted that he opposes cutting state and local taxes in favor of Trump-backed states like New York and New Jersey. In an interview Monday, McCormick also said he differed with Trump on continued financial aid to war-torn Ukraine.
Minutes after shaking hands at the start of the debate, McCormick wasted little time before criticizing Casey for his vote on the 2015 Iran nuclear deal during the Obama administration, a law supported by all but four Democratic senators.
“Casey was the deciding vote that gave $100 billion in sanctions money to Iran, and it was used to underwrite terrorism — that’s where all those missiles are coming from,” McCormick said in response to the moderator’s first question about the conflict in the Middle East.
Casey and McCormick both said the United States should stand by Israel and refused to draw red lines for their support for the country in the escalating regional war.
Abortion, a key issue for voters in Pennsylvania, where pregnancy is unrestricted until the 24th week, gave both candidates an opportunity to center their messages.
Casey, who now supports lifting the Senate’s 60-vote barrier to codify federal abortion protections, is the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade said his decision was a “consensus across the country” that “permits reasonable restrictions.” “
McCormick said he prefers to leave the matter up to the states and won’t vote for legislation federally limiting or codifying the procedure.
“There is no senator who has lost more on abortion,” McCormick said, referring to Casey’s past calling himself “pro-life.”
With fentanyl deaths hitting Pennsylvania communities hard, both candidates have expressed their stances on immigration and the US-Mexico border, which is plagued by drug smuggling.
Casey said he “absolutely” supports the Biden administration’s policy, noting that illegal border crossings have declined in recent months. He criticized McCormick for opposing a bipartisan border security bill that Trump also opposes.
“We need to invest in hiring thousands of Border Patrol agents [agents]. That’s the bill I voted for twice this year. “Because the leader of his party said “don’t support” the bill that my opponent opposed.”
McCormick criticized Casey for not going to the border recently, saying he would have voted against the “bad bill” regardless of Trump. “I’m my own man,” he said.
Natural energy, the state’s top industry, was also a topic.
“The same man who lies about where he lives lies about my position on fracking,” Casey said. “I voted against the fracking ban.”
McCormick responded: “This is not a man who is a strong friend of the energy sector and the natural gas sector. He said that you cannot dig your way to success. … So the senator here wants to have both sides because he’s a career politician.”
Harrisburg Community College student Daniel Dolan, a first-time voter who attended a watch party organized by a libertarian group for undecided Pennsylvanians, said he was leaning toward McCormick and found Casey “robotic.”
“Bob Casey was talking about his main issue being Dave McCormick as CEO of this company,” Dolan said. “I wish Bob Casey would expand a little and make better points, but he seems to be making a few of the same points.”