Pennsylvania U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick was mentioned by The Washington Post among a list of Republican candidates across the United States who have faced questions about their ties to the state where they seek office, even after the New York Times confirmed the Republican nominee spent his childhood and formative years in the commonwealth.
McCormick was mentioned by the Post due to claims about his residency, which were advanced by the campaign of Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) in an advertisement that declared, “McCormick’s running for Senate in Pennsylvania but he doesn’t live here.”
That claim was recently given context by Fox 43 in June, when the outlet reported, “Allegheny County records show McCormick purchased a $2.8 million home in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood using an LLC in November 2021, just months before launching his campaign for U.S. Senate, running for the Republican nomination against Dr. [Mehmet] Oz.”
Nonetheless, the Post pointed to a home McCormick rents in Connecticut and cited Casey’s ad that called the Republican a “Connecticut millionaire” in an article which argued in its headline, “The ‘carpetbagger’ label is everywhere in 2024.”
In politics, a carpetbagger is defined as a new resident or nonresident who seeks personal gain through business or politics. It was originally used to describe Northern politicians and businessmen who moved to the South following the conclusion of the American Civil War.
Both the claim about McCormick’s residency and the reporting by the Post follow a thorough examination of the Republican’s early life in Pennsylvania by The New York Times.
According to that report, McCormick may have understated his family’s wealth, but the outlet confirmed the former Trump administration official “largely grew up” in a “sprawling hilltop residence” on “what is now Bloomsburg University.”
The Times also confirmed McCormick’s family owned a farm near the Bloomsburg University campus, though the outlet reported the farm may have been less focused on Christmas Trees, as the Republican has claimed, and instead may have mostly been devoted to his mother’s Arabian horses.
McCormick previously told The Pennsylvania Daily Star the Times and its reporters ultimately confirmed his Pennsylvania roots.
He argued that the Times sent its “team” to draft a “Democratic oppo piece that was designed to try to call into question my Pennsylvania roots.”
McCormick told The Star that instead of calling into question his history as a Pennsylvanian, the Times‘ coverage “did the oppose.”
Unfazed by the discussion of his residence, McCormick stepped up his political attacks against Casey and President Joe Biden in the aftermath of the Democratic president’s poor debate performance.
“Bob Casey has been protecting Joe Biden for years and lying to Pennsylvanians about his ability to serve as Commander-in-Chief,” McCormick stated. He later added, “Senator Casey needs to say whether he thinks President Biden’s the guy to lead America into the future.”
McCormick also urged Biden’s cabinet officials to consider their “responsibility” to remove Biden from office using the 25th Amendment if he is unable to fulfill his duties.
“If the people around the president think he is not capable of fulfilling his responsibilities in a time of war,” said McCormick, “then they have a responsibility to acknowledge that and possibly replace the president.”
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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.
