Republican U.S. Senate nominee Dave McCormick on Wednesday issued a statement warning that Vice President Kamala Harris “wants to ban fracking” in Pennsylvania, and suggested Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) would enable her if reelected.
McCormick’s campaign released his statement after Casey was asked about Harris’ prior pledge to ban fracking, and demurred by stating Harris “contributed greatly to our development of new energy sources.”
The Republican suggested his opponent’s statement means he’s “just fine” with Harris’ energy policies.
WATCH: Bob Casey REFUSES to denounce Kamala Harris's call to ban fracking in PA.
Reporter: "[Harris] very clearly… said she wants to ban fracking."
Casey: Harris has "contributed greatly to our development of new energy sources." pic.twitter.com/xi9J6uNLiF
— Team McCormick (@TeamMcCormickPA) July 31, 2024
“Make no mistake: radical California liberal Kamala Harris wants to ban fracking, and Bob Casey thinks that’s just fine,” said McCormick.
McCormick continued, “Casey’s too weak to stand up for the 600,000 workers connected to Pennsylvania’s energy sector, and he’s too weak to fight to unleash our commonwealth’s natural resources.”
He added, “Anyone who is okay with banning the lifeblood of Pennsylvania’s future has no business representing the commonwealth in the U.S. Senate.”
Though Harris explicitly stated during her abortive 2020 presidential campaign, “I’m in favor of banning fracking,” a staffer told German-owned Politico last week that former President Donald Trump’s assertions about her desire to ban fracking are “false claims.”
The same Harris spokesman later clarified to the outlet that Harris “would not ban fracking,” directly contradicting her 2019 position.
McCormick’s campaign, in an advertisement that provoked praise from conservatives and trepidation from Democrats, also highlighted Harris’ 2019 statement that coal workers in Pennsylvania would “transition” to green energy jobs under her administration.
McCormick has also noted that Casey voted in 98 percent alignment with Harris while she served in the U.S. Senate and in 100 percent alignment with her policy positions since she became the vice president and began serving as the Senate President.
His campaign also branded Casey and Harris as “dangerously liberal on the border” with another advertisement that broadcast the candidates’ prior statements about decriminalizing illegal border crossings, abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and creating a pathway to citizenship for more than 11 million illegal immigrants.
According to the RealClearPolling aggregate of surveys, Casey continues to poll ahead of his Republican opponent in the Keystone State. The current poll shows the Democrat beating McCormick by just 6.3 percent.
In early July, when Biden was still the Democrats’ presumptive presidential nominee and prior to the attempted assassination of Trump, pollsters suggested the race was narrowing, with McCormick in “striking distance” of Casey.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Dave McCormick” by Dave McCormick. Photo “Bob Casey” by Bob Casey. Background Photo “Fracking” by Joshua Doubek. CC BY-SA 3.0.
