GOP turns the spotlight on Sen. Bob Casey's family ties in key Pennsylvania race

Bob Casey Jr. rode a wave of reform to the U.S. Senate in 2006, standing out with other Democrats who vowed to end a culture of scandal and self-dealing in Washington, D.C.

A fixture of Pennsylvania politics whose late father had served as governor, Casey unveiled an ethics plan at the restaurant formerly owned by disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. He later seethed over an ad in which his Republican opponent questioned his integrity.

Nearly two decades later, Casey faces a tough fightfor a fourth term, along with accusations that friends and family have benefited from his political career. In a family with a brand name in Pennsylvania politics, several Casey siblings have seen their own politics-adjacent careers intersect with the senator’s.

There’s a brother who registered to lobby for a semiconductor manufacturer soon after Casey supported a bill to expand opportunities for the industry. There’s another brother whose law partner helps Casey recommend federal judges and whose firm’s employees have donated more than $225,000 to Casey’s campaigns, according to Federal Election Commission documents. And there’s a sister whose printing company has received more than a half-million dollars’ worth of work from Casey’s campaigns, records show.

Casey, 64, is not accused of breaking any laws or violating ethics rules. But GOP operatives working to unseat him in one of the country’s top Senate races this year are calling attention to those and other family ties. The National Republican Senatorial Committee has also compared Casey to President Joe Biden, whose family members have been accused of trading on their famous last name.

“It’s called the Casey Cartel,” the narrator says in an ad from the NRSC. “Because, like Biden, Bob