Pennsylvania Senate Race: What Are the Two Candidates Debating?

Pennsylvania has long been one of the most important battleground states in American elections, potentially determining the outcome of the presidential election and which party will control the Senate. In the 2024 election, Pennsylvania Democratic Senator Bob Casey is facing a strong challenge from Republican Dave McCormick, with both sides accusing each other of investing in Chinese fentanyl manufacturers, highlighting the growing concern among American voters about the threat from China and the fentanyl drug crisis.

Senator Bob Casey, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, is campaigning for his fourth consecutive six-year term. Recently, he criticized his Republican challenger Dave McCormick for profiting from people’s pain in the United States through investments in Chinese pharmaceutical companies. However, media reports revealed that Casey also invested in the same Chinese fentanyl manufacturer through mutual funds.

According to the New York Post on August 12, Senator Casey holds shares in Yichang Humanwell, a Chinese pharmaceutical company that produces medical-grade fentanyl drugs. The company stated that it does not export its fentanyl drugs to the United States. Casey’s campaign team defended his investment, stating that it was made through a joint 529 college savings plan and accounts for less than 1% of the total value of the index fund.

Fox News reported on August 13 that Casey also invested in two other Chinese fentanyl manufacturing companies, Jiangsu Nhwa Pharmaceutical and Sinopharm Group, both of which are involved in manufacturing and distributing anesthetic drugs.

Republican candidate McCormick has launched a vigorous campaign against Casey on the fentanyl issue, stating that “Casey has spent 18 years protecting our borders and stopping fentanyl, but just last year it killed 100,000 Americans – under his weakness, this crisis has exceeded imagination.”

Moreover, as a former hedge fund executive, McCormick has also faced criticism for his past investments in Chinese fentanyl pharmaceutical companies.

Casey’s campaign team released a campaign ad earlier this month that harshly criticized McCormick for investing in Yichang Humanwell while leading Bridgewater Associates and suggested that McCormick saw a way to get richer in the fentanyl crisis. The ad also highlighted that nearly all fentanyl in the U.S. market comes from China.

According to public records from the Department of Labor, as of 2021, Bridgewater Associates invested nearly $1.7 million in Yichang Humanwell across seven different hedge funds. McCormick was the CEO of the investment firm at that time.

Democratic spokesperson Maddy McDaniel defended Senator Casey, stating to Fox News, “Dave McCormick will say anything to try to cover up how he sold out Pennsylvanians for profit, but the fact is clear: he invested millions directly into a Chinese fentanyl company and profited from Pennsylvanians’ pain. Dave McCormick chose to invest in a Chinese fentanyl company, something Bob Casey has never done.”

McCormick, in his defense, attempted to portray his investment decisions as business actions, distinct from Casey’s personal investment portfolio. In a statement to the New York Post on August 13, he said, “It was Bridgewater, not Dave McCormick… owning a stake in a pharmaceutical company selling legal (fentanyl) in China.”

“I don’t even own it (personally), it’s just a company that I have an opportunity to lead,” he added.

The DEA has indicated that “illicit fentanyl is primarily manufactured in clandestine laboratories abroad and smuggled into the United States through Mexico, currently being distributed across the country and sold on the illegal drug market.” In 2022, Pennsylvania ranked 14th in fentanyl overdose death rates across the United States.

The rapid increase in fentanyl abuse and overdose deaths has become a pressing issue for Pennsylvania voters.

The Republican goal is to regain control of the Senate in the upcoming November elections, with Pennsylvania seen as one of their opportunities. However, unseating Casey’s senatorial seat won’t be an easy task for McCormick. Current polling data shows Casey with a significant lead.

In nearly all public polls conducted until July 2024, Casey is leading McCormick by a wide margin, despite some showing former President Trump slightly ahead of the Democratic presidential candidate, either President Biden or Vice President Harris.

A recent poll conducted by SoCal Research on July 20-21 with 500 likely voters showed Casey leading McCormick by 10 percentage points, 50% to 40%.

Public Policy Polling’s survey on July 17-18 with 624 registered voters found Casey leading McCormick by 11 percentage points, 50% to 39%.

Redfield & Wilton Strategies’ poll on July 16-18 with 688 likely voters showed Casey with a 7-point lead (44% to 37%).

Additionally, a survey by The New York Times and Siena College found Casey leading by 8 percentage points among likely voters (50% to 42%) and by 11 percentage points among registered voters (50% to 39%). This survey, conducted on July 9-11, included 872 likely and registered voters.

A poll by Remington Research Group on June 29- July 1 with 673 likely voters found Casey leading McCormick by 1 percentage point (49% to 48%).

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report, which tracks elections across the U.S., categorizes the Pennsylvania Senate race as “Leans Democratic,” indicating an advantage for the Democratic party.

Pennsylvania is a crucial swing state, with Trump narrowly winning in 2016 and Biden slightly edging out Trump in 2020 by just over 1 percentage point.

Casey, a lawyer by profession, is known as a moderate Democrat and comes from a politically influential family in Pennsylvania, with his father being a former governor of the state. The 64-year-old senator has been popular in Pennsylvania for nearly 30 years.

In his political career, Casey won his first federal Senate race in 2006 by defeating Republican Rick Santorum by a 15-point margin. He secured reelection with margins of 9 points in 2012 and 13 points in 2018, becoming the first Pennsylvania Democrat to win three consecutive Senate seats. He is now seeking a fourth term in office.

Media in Pennsylvania describes Casey as a moderate both in tone and policy.

On economic and employment issues, Casey supports narrowing income inequality by raising the minimum wage, expanding unemployment insurance, and increasing early childhood education funding.

On U.S.-China trade issues, Casey supports the tough stance taken by the Trump administration against the CCP. In 2017, Casey was one of eight Democratic senators signing a letter to then-President Trump pointing out that China’s steel, subsidized by the Chinese government, was entering the U.S. market at below-cost prices, damaging the domestic steel industry and iron ore industry.

In energy and environmental issues, Casey has split with the left wing of the Democratic party. He was one of seven Democratic senators in 2021 to join Republicans in blocking a ban on hydraulic fracturing. Fracking can stimulate the flow of natural gas or oil in rock formations by creating fractures and increasing the depth of vertical drilling, enhancing the extractable amount, which is crucial in the oil drilling industry, and Pennsylvania is one of the leading states in energy production in the U.S.

In terms of foreign policy, Casey joined over 70 bipartisan senators in 2013 to urge the EU to designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. In 2016, he introduced the “Stop Terrorist Operational Resource and Money (STORM) Act,” which punishes countries that provide funding for terrorism within their borders or to their citizens.

On social issues, Casey has undergone significant shifts in positions during his political career. For instance, on gun issues, Casey was a supporter of gun rights, but after a major school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut in December 2012, he shifted his position to support gun control.

Up until 2022, Casey held an anti-abortion stance. However, starting in 2022, he began expressing support for abortion rights.

Casey also supports policies such as providing “sanctuary cities” for illegal immigrants, LGBTQ rights, and same-sex marriage.

Republicans have accused Casey’s family and friends of benefiting from his political career.

NBC News reported that soon after Casey supported a bill expanding opportunities in the semiconductor industry, one of his brothers registered as a lobbyist for a semiconductor manufacturer. Federal Election Commission records show that a partner at another brother’s law firm helped recommend federal judges for Casey, and employees of that law firm contributed over $225,000 in political donations to Casey’s campaigns. Records also show that one of Casey’s sisters’ printing company received over $500,000 worth of printing work from his campaign.

Casey’s supporters argue that he has not been accused of violating any laws or ethical rules. Furthermore, he has long advocated for ethical reform and even supported former President Trump’s efforts to “drain the swamp” in Washington, including imposing a five-year lobbying ban on former executive branch officials.

Republican Dave McCormick, 59, has an extensive resume. With experiences in the military, business, and politics, he has excelled in each phase of his career. Additionally, his wife Dina Powell is a former senior executive at Goldman Sachs and a former deputy national security advisor in the Trump administration.

McCormick holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from West Point and a Ph.D. in international relations from Princeton University. He served in the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division for five years and led a combat engineering company during the Gulf War in Iraq in 1991.

After his military career, McCormick worked alternately in the private sector and government.

Starting in 2005, McCormick served as the Deputy Secretary of Commerce for Industrial and Security Affairs in the George W. Bush administration, followed by the Deputy Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs.

In 2009, McCormick joined Bridgewater Associates, one of the world’s largest hedge funds, as president. He became co-CEO of Bridgewater in 2017 and was the sole CEO from 2020 to 2022.

Apart from investing nearly $1.7 million in Yichang Humanwell, McCormick reportedly raised 800 million yuan ($130 million) for a Chinese private equity fund by November 2021.

However, by the end of 2021, as McCormick considered running for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania to fill the seat left vacant by Republican Senator Pat Toomey, he began to distance himself from Bridgewater’s founder, Ray Dalio, and his defense of human rights in China. McCormick also publicly criticized Dalio during a company conference call.

In 2022, after competing fiercely with celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz in the Republican primary for the Pennsylvania Senate seat, McCormick lost by a slim margin of 0.1 percentage points (about 1,000 votes). Oz eventually lost the final runoff against Democratic candidate John Fetterman by almost 5 percentage points.

In September 2023, McCormick announced his second candidacy for the U.S. Senate. This time, he garnered broad support from the Republican Party and faced little internal challenge, easily securing the Republican nomination.

On July 13, 2024, when an assassination attempt was made at a campaign rally for former President Trump in Pennsylvania, McCormick was present. At the moment the shots rang out, McCormick was sitting in the front row of the rally, to Trump’s right. Following the incident, McCormick described it as “a very scary moment” and expressed relief that Trump “was lucky to be alive.”

During his political career, McCormick has undergone some significant shifts in positions, such as transitioning from supporting free trade to backing Trump’s “America First” and tariff policies. He has also shifted from a dovish stance on engagement with China to supporting Trump’s hawkish policies against the CCP.

Furthermore, while serving as CEO of Bridgewater, the company policy allowed full reimbursement for employees’ gender confirmation surgeries. After running for the Senate, McCormick began to oppose using federal funds for gender confirmation surgeries and barred transgender individuals from participating in women’s sports.