Pennsylvania Senate Debate: Casey, McCormick Spar Over Economy, Border, Fracking

Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) and Republican millionaire businessman Dave McCormick squared off during an Oct. 15 debate ahead of the Nov. 5 election that could play a pivotal role in determining control of the Senate.
Casey, 64, is a former state auditor general and treasurer and Pennsylvania’s longest-serving Democrat in the Senate. He is seeking a fourth term.
McCormick, 59, is making his second run for the Senate after losing to Dr. Mehmet Oz in the 2022 Republican primary. He served as CEO of investment management company Bridgewater Associates, sat on President Donald Trump’s Defense Advisory Board, and held senior positions under President George W. Bush.
Throughout the 60-minute debate, Casey criticized McCormick over investments in China by Bridgewater Associates.
“If he’s going to talk about his record versus my record, his record is as a hedge fund CEO investing in China and our adversaries,” Casey said at the studio of WPVI-TV in Philadelphia. “That’s his record. Mine is bipartisan work in the Senate.”
McCormick defended his record at the company, where he worked after his tenure at McKinsey & Co., saying Bridgewater Associates invested globally, including in China, and that its investments were legal. He said these investments had even been approved by Casey during his time as Pennsylvania’s treasurer.
He criticized Casey for the state’s investments in China Mobile and for accepting lobbying contributions from companies that sell drones to the Chinese military.
McCormick accused Casey of being out of touch with Pennsylvania.
“Sen. Casey, in 18 years in the Senate, 30 years elected office, does not have a record he can run on, which is why he’s devoted himself to attacking me,” he said.
He called for a middle-class tax cut and an increase in the child tax credit.
Casey criticized McCormick for supporting the lower 21 percent corporate tax rate enacted during the Trump administration.
“He wants to give it to the billionaires, the people making hundreds of millions in the big corporations, and another big tax cut for the most powerful companies in the world is going to add up to more than $4 trillion,” he said.
McCormick blamed runaway spending as being behind the high costs, including a “war on fossil fuels.”
He said that Casey’s votes on the spending bills were “to drive this inflation problem.”
“It’s killing working families,” McCormick said.
He defended the 2017 tax cuts, saying they gave middle-class families tax relief.
“This is millions of people coming into the economy,” McCormick said. “It’s completely subverting what was intended by asylum.”
McCormick called the legislation, which was blocked by Republicans, “an amnesty bill.” He said the United States instead needs to secure the border and take military action against cartels, which he said should be treated like terrorist organizations.
Casey and McCormick both said they support an all-of-the-above approach when it comes to energy.
Casey expressed support for “tough regulation” of the extraction method. He criticized McCormick for investing in Chinese oil companies.
“We’ve got to continue to support Israel’s efforts not just to defend itself but to take the fight to those terrorists that are threatening them every single day,” he said.
Casey called for additional humanitarian assistance to Gaza, large parts of which Hamas controls.
McCormick—whose wife, Dina Powell, served in a senior national security position in the Trump administration—criticized Casey for supporting the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which gave billions of dollars in sanctions relief to Tehran.
“That’s the root cause of this problem, and that’s what needs to be addressed,” he said. “We need to strangle Iran and its ability to support these terrorists.”