McCormick holds campaign event at Hardwood Cafe
PENN TWP — U.S. Senate candidate David McCormick, a native of Bloomsburg who is running as a Republican and hopes to face incumbent Sen. Bob Casey in November, made an appearance at the Hardwood Cafe on Tuesday afternoon, Jan. 30, for a discussion with leaders from the local agricultural community.
“I’m sure Bob Casey is a fine person,” McCormick said. “He’s just not a good senator, and this is a moment where we need a good senator who can actually deal with the challenges we face.”
More than two dozen potential voters crammed into a private room at the restaurant to listen to what McCormick had to say, whether they were solidly in favor of him or still on the fence.
“I want to hear Dave firsthand and what he stands for and what he plans to do for this area and the country,” said resident Dave Vessels, who is retired. “I’m looking at all the possible candidates, and I am a supporter of Dave.”
Butler County Sheriff Mike Slupe opened the event by endorsing McCormick and stating the senatorial candidate had the backing of “45 or 46” sheriffs across Pennsylvania, including some Democrat-aligned sheriffs.
“I was a Dave guy all the way,” Slupe said. “From his humble beginnings, his Pennsylvania roots, his military experience, his world class business experience ... Dave is just a wonderful, wonderful man.”
McCormick was sharply critical of his Democratic opponent, Casey, as well as President Joe Biden.
“Right now America is in decline. Crime is up; inflation is up,” McCormick said. “You all can assess for yourselves whether President Biden and Senator Casey have taken our country in the right direction. That’s why I’m running.”
The conversation on Tuesday largely centered around the country’s growing national security issues, and how McCormick would address them if elected. Much of his campaign platform is based on making the U.S. less dependent on China, which would include preventing China and other foreign countries from purchasing U.S. land.
“The Chinese in particular have been very strategic about buying huge chunks of farmland,” McCormick said. “At a minimum, they should go through a very stringent strategic review.”
McCormick, who served in the armed forces during the Gulf War and was one of President George W. Bush’s advisers, expressed concerns about the state of America’s national security and was critical of the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border.
“We’ve had 9 million illegal entrants since President Biden took office,” McCormick said. “We’ve had more coming in the border illegally than we have in our armed services.”
McCormick also criticized Casey’s energy policies, which he claims have made the state of Pennsylvania unable to take advantage of its large deposits of natural gas.
“If we were able to unlock those natural gas reserves, it would be enormously beneficial for our economy,” McCormick said. “Fracking has become unbelievably safe and clean, and the regulations just haven’t kept up with that.”
This is not McCormick’s first attempt at a U.S. Senate seat. In 2022, McCormick ran as a Republican for the seat that was being vacated by Pat Toomey, but narrowly lost in the primary to television personality Dr. Mehmet Oz. Oz lost in the general election to Democrat John Fetterman.
In this year’s primary, McCormick is the odds-on favorite and has received the lion’s share of state and national GOP endorsements, including from the Conservative Political Action Conference.
McCormick is one of five candidates, alongside Cory Widmann, Tariq Parvez, Joseph Vodvarka and Brandi Tomasetti.
