David McCormick announces U.S. Senate run with GOP lining up behind him

The Republicans have their preferred candidate in their quest to unseat incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey.

Former hedge fund CEO David McCormick announced his run for Senate on Thursday evening in Pittsburgh.

At a campaign kickoff at the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh’s Strip District with more than 200 supporters in attendance, McCormick painted a bleak picture of the state of the nation and Pennsylvania, and he said he is the leader who can turn things around.

“Sadly, the America we know is slipping away,” said McCormick. “America is in decline. Economically, militarily, spiritually. You know it. You feel it. … Our future is bright, but it is only bright if we elect the right kind of leader.”

McCormick’s 15-minute speech attracted cheers from the crowd and boos whenever McCormick mentioned President Joe Biden or Casey. The event mostly was a cocktail party with live music before and after the short speech.

McCormick, 58, focused his speech on painting himself as the candidate to buck the status quo.

He said issues such as migration at the southern border, rising costs and violent crime are out of control. He also criticized the Inflation Reduction Act as “one of the most wasteful, pork-belly spending” bills. The act, signed into law in August 2022, includes $369 billion for climate change mitigation and hundreds of billions to address the budget deficit and prescription drug prices.

He said Pennsylvanians are losing faith in government under Biden.

“We need leaders that give people the hope and faith and confidence that the American dream is alive for all,” he said.

McCormick served as CEO of Bridgewater Associates from 2020-22 before stepping down to run for U.S. Senate last year.

He faced a bruising and expensive primary that saw him come up short to former television personality Dr. Mehmet Oz by fewer than 1,000 votes. U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Braddock, defeated Oz in the general election.

Republicans will have their work cut out for them in flipping the seat.

Casey, 63, of Scranton has positive approval ratings and never has lost a statewide general election in six tries. Casey, the son of former Pennsylvania Gov. Bob Casey Sr., is seeking his fourth term in the Senate.

But, unlike the GOP primary in 2022, which saw several candidates, Republicans from across the state already are lining up behind McCormick.

McCormick told the crowd it is time for Republicans to unify.

Local Republicans such as Allegheny County Councilman Sam DeMarco, state Sen. Devlin Robinson, state Rep. Valerie Gaydos, former U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy and former state House Speaker Mike Turzai were in attendance.

McCormick was heavily recruited to run again by the party establishment and, thus far, has a clear GOP primary field. He has talked for months about possibly running, and Democrats have treated him as Casey’s de facto opponent.

He visited the Pennsylvania capitol this week in hopes of shoring up the state Republican Party nomination, meeting with former gubernatorial candidate Sen. Doug Mastriano, who is considered one of the more conservative figures in the state and was present at the Jan. 6 insurrection.

In a video this week, Mastriano said he absolutely supports McCormick and that it will benefit Republicans across the state if they get behind him.

In addition to uniting parts of the Republican Party, McCormick brings considerable personal wealth to the race, and it is expected he will self-fund large parts of his campaign.

In 2022, McCormick and his wife, Dina Powell McCormick, a former Goldman Sachs executive, held a net worth that ranged between $95.7 million and at least $196.7 million. That included homes in Dallas and the Colorado Rockies, according to an analysis of a candidate financial disclosure he filed with the U.S. Senate last year.

A race between Casey and McCormick could be one of the nation’s most expensive and closely watched in a year when Democrats have a difficult 2024 Senate map. It requires them to defend incumbents in red states — Montana, Ohio and West Virginia — and in multiple swing states.

At his campaign kickoff, McCormick touted his experience growing up in Pennsylvania and said he is a seventh-generation Pennsylvanian, whose ancestors immigrated to the Pittsburgh area from Ireland.

McCormick was born in Washington County and grew up in Bloomsburg in Central Pennsylvania. He graduated from West Point and enlisted in the Army in 1987, serving for five years, including a tour as a paratrooper in the first Gulf War, where he was awarded a Bronze Star.

“We had a saying that paratroopers lead the way, and I have been leading my whole life,” McCormick said.

Though born and raised in Pennsylvania, McCormick had lived in Connecticut for years, and it still is his primary residence. He bought a house in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood in 2021.

McCormick splits time between his Pittsburgh home and his home in Connecticut, and Democrats have criticized him for lacking local ties to the Pennsylvania community. It’s a strategy they used to great effect in 2022 against Oz.

State Sen. Jay Costa, D-Forest Hills, rallied with Democrats and labor union leaders Thursday in Pittsburgh ahead of McCormick’s announcement. Organized labor already is aligning itself with Casey, who picked up an endorsement from the United Steelworkers this week.

Costa called McCormick a carpetbagger and said it’s offensive that he is running in Pennsylvania.

“We know that this person is a Connecticut resident,” Costa said. “If you want to run for U.S. Senate, go to Connecticut to run for U.S. Senate.”

McCormick campaign spokeswoman Elizabeth Gregory has defended McCormick’s split residency. She said he maintains the Connecticut residence as his daughters finish high school.

At the campaign launch, he touted his family’s history in the state.

“I am Pennsylvania first. I was born and raised here.”

He ended the speech on a positive note and exuded confidence that Republicans can win in 2024.

“We need a leader to rekindle the American spirit,” said McCormick. “That is what I have always been, and that is what I will always be.”