Casey, McCormick to meet for first debate in Pennsylvania’s battleground Senate race

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Republican challenger David McCormick will meet Thursday night for their first debate in an expensive race for a swing-state seat that could help determine control of the Senate in November’s election.

Casey, perhaps Pennsylvania’s best-known politician, is seeking a fourth term and is facing what he calls his toughest reelection challenge yet.

Casey, 64, is a staunch ally of labor unions, a former state auditor general and treasurer and Pennsylvania’s longest-serving Democrat in the Senate. He has campaigned on preserving the middle class, abortion rights, labor rights and voting rights, and calls McCormick and former President Donald Trump a threat to all those.

McCormick, 59, is making his second run for the Senate after losing narrowly to Dr. Mehmet Oz in 2022’s Republican primary. He is a former hedge fund CEO who served at the highest levels of former President George W. Bush’s administration and sat on Trump’s Defense Advisory Board.

He has accused Casey of rubber-stamping Biden administration policies on immigration, the economy, energy and national security that he blames for inflation, domestic turmoil and war. He also has attacked Casey as out of touch after being in elected office for almost three decades.

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