WPSU is interviewing candidates running for Congress in our listening area. In this interview, you'll hear from Dave McCormick, the Republican nominee. McCormick is running against the Democratic incumbent, Senator Bob Casey, who we also interviewed. Here is their conversation.
Anne Danahy
Dave McCormick, thank you so much for talking with us.
Dave McCormick
Great to be with you. Thanks so much for having me.
Anne Danahy
For people who don't know you well, what are a couple of things that you would like Pennsylvania's voters to know about you?
Dave McCormick
Yeah, well, I'm a seventh generation Pennsylvanian. My mom is from Punxsutawney. My dad from Indiana County. I was born in Washington, Pennsylvania. I grew up in Bloomsburg, so born and raised. My folks had a family farm where I had the opportunity to work in the summers and bale hay and trim Christmas trees and worked in the local restaurant as a busboy. And I played football and wrestled, and wrestling got me to West Point. And I wrestled at West Point. I was the co-captain of the wrestling team. As you know, wrestling is in the bloodstream of Pennsylvania. And after West Point, I went to Ranger School, and then the 82nd Airborne Division. I did a combat tour in Iraq, and then came back to Pennsylvania, and ultimately had the chance to run a business in Pittsburgh that created hundreds of jobs.
Then went back to government service, went and ran a big investment firm. So the headline is: I'm a Pennsylvania kid, West Point combat vet, business person, and really feel blessed by what Pennsylvania has given me and also what America has given me.
Anne Danahy
What do you see as the biggest issue facing Americans? And what would you like to do about it?
Dave McCormick
Well, you know, the difference between America being on the right path and America being on the wrong path, in the end, is about leadership, and so I think we need strong leadership to get our economy back on track. Inflation is really killing working families in Pennsylvania. Prices are up by more than 20% and 60% of Pennsylvanians live paycheck to paycheck. So getting squeezed economically is the number one issue, but the border crisis is really affecting Pennsylvanians. You know, we have 13 sanctuary counties or cities. We have huge burden on our social services. We had 4,000 fentanyl deaths last year in Pennsylvania from these cartels pushing fentanyl through illegal immigration into our great Commonwealth, and then finally, the war on fossil fuels. I think that's a big deal for Pennsylvania. We're uniquely blessed with fossil fuels, particularly natural gas, and we have the fourth largest natural gas reserves in the world. But because of a bunch of red tape and regulations and subsidies for solar panels and electric vehicles, and the lack of leadership on this issue by Senator Casey, my opponent, but also the Democratic Party in general, we've really been constrained on energy production, which is really great for our economy, great for our security, our national security, but also great for our environment. Those three issues are sort of the big the big ones I hear about.
Anne Danahy
I want to go back to what you would like to see done to address them, specifically on inflation and the border crisis, because, correct me if I'm wrong, but you did not support the legislation that was bipartisan to address border control and immigration.
Dave McCormick
The border crisis, to start with, is the best example of what I think is a complete failure on the part of President Biden and Vice President Harris and Bob Casey. So first of all, the border legislation you're talking about was three plus years into this where we had 10 million illegal immigrants that had already come across the border, 200 on the terrorist watch list, the fentanyl crisis. The list goes on and on and on. So that's the first thing. The second thing was that the border bill that you refer to, was not a border security bill. It was an amnesty bill. I went and looked at this bill. I compared it to every other developed country around the world. It would have allowed up to 2 million illegal immigrants into the country applying for asylum, which is a huge number, and it did not focus on actually securing the border from illegal immigrants crossing into the border. And listen, my wife's an immigrant. I'm pro immigrant, pro legal immigration. We're a country of immigrants, but we're also a country of laws. The bipartisan legislation you talk about would have codified millions of people coming into our country in a way that's completely inconsistent with what even the very vision of asylum was to start with.
Anne Danahy
It received bipartisan support. So do you think that members of your party, the Republican Party, who supported it and spent a long time working on it, were misguided?
Dave McCormick
Yeah, I do. You know, just because my party thinks it, doesn't mean I agree with it. So you know my party — I've been the first person to propose IVF tax credits for for Pennsylvanians and for the country. I'm an independent voice. I've been to the border twice, by the way, in the last couple years, I've spent lots of time with the Border Patrol and local officials more so than I mean, Senator Casey hasn't been to the border. Vice President Harris, the border czar, hasn't been to the border. So no, I think my opinion was very, very much an informed one. And I think what's happened is that the level of crisis has been lost on many policymakers in both parties. Let me give you a quick example. I know you want to move on, but, just to give you an example, last year alone, we had 116,000 people in America that died of fentanyl poisoning. Tragic. In eight years of war in Vietnam, we lost 58,000 killed in action. So we had two Vietnams last year. And this level of crisis requires significant action. I've also, in that light, recommended that on the first day in the Senate, we should designate the cartels a terrorist organization, and use our military very selectively and strategically with drones and special operations to take out the cartels, the distribution networks and so forth. So I think, I think the border bill that you, that you're mentioning, was just woefully inadequate for the challenge we face.
Anne Danahy
Because you brought up fentanyl, I want to bring up one of the critiques that your opponent, Senator Bob Casey, has made against you. And he's critiqued you for being a leader of a hedge fund and for its investments in China, and in particular, for the company that was a producer of fentanyl. How do you respond to that?
Dave McCormick
Well, first of all, you know, Senator Casey has run an entire campaign of attacks. I mean, which are, which are anti success. I've had, you know, an incredible business career creating jobs in Pennsylvania, and then also running this big investment firm which had, you know, supported and invested on behalf of firemen and policemen and teachers in Pennsylvania and around the country, and that firm invested globally. like most investment firms. It invested about 3% of its assets in China. But here's the hypocrisy of this. So it invested in a pharmaceutical company that was a legal pharmaceutical company approved by the United States government. They gave fentanyl to patients in hospitals in China. Very different than the illegal fentanyl that comes across illicitly into Mexico and then manufactured by the cartels. So it's a completely misleading attack, and even identified as such by the Pittsburgh Post Gazette editorial. But here's the killer. Here's the best part about career politicians. Bob Casey owned that very same company in his 401K investment fund. So, so that is a completely spurious claim. The real problem with fentanyl is that we have these illicit ingredients that come from China into Mexico, which we need to interdict, and then we have these Mexican cartels that create this horrible poison, illegal fentanyl and send it across the open border. And that's what killed 4,000 Pennsylvanians last year. And that's why I hold Senator Casey and Vice President Harris and Joe Biden accountable for that, because that got much, much worse in the last three and a half years under under their leadership.
Anne Danahy
Another area that you've been criticized for is your place of residence. And the Associated Press reported last year that you were still residing in Connecticut, and they pointed to documents that that was listed as your your home address. Even if you are living in Pittsburgh, that you're from Pennsylvania, can you see why that might raise eyebrows or not sit right with everyone to think, like, OK, he has lived or he has a home in the Pittsburgh area, but really, he's from and living in Connecticut.
Dave McCormick
No, I can't, I don't think the truth would, should give Pennsylvanians any any worries at all. So I'm a 59-year-old guy. I was born and raised in Pennsylvania. I grew up in Pennsylvania, in rural Bloomsburg, and then I went to the military. I put America first when I volunteered for West Point at the age of 17, Ranger School, 82nd Airborne Division combat in Iraq. Then I came back to Pennsylvania, helped create a business, hundreds of jobs. Had three of my children here. Went to public service again, and then, yeah, I ran a firm outside of Pennsylvania for 12 years. So that's true. Like many Pennsylvanians, I've gone and explored opportunities elsewhere. During that time, I kept a family farm, and I moved back to Pennsylvania permanently in early 2022. I had a farm that I owned for about 20 years before that. So, no, I think the claim is is absolutely ridiculous. I've lived the majority of my life in Pennsylvania, and 13 years that I wasn't in Pennsylvania, I was serving my country, either in the military for nine years or at the highest levels of government. So I think it's a claim of a career politician who has had been in elected office for 30 years and doesn't literally have a record to run on. So his campaign has been one of attacks, as opposed to thanking me for my service that helps him live in the free country he lives in.
Anne Danahy
On another issue, you are anti-abortion. You have said that you would make exceptions for rape, life of the mother and incest. Would you support legislation at the federal level to restrict abortion that's been proposed, for example, by Senator Lindsey Graham in previous years?
Dave McCormick
Well, rather than you characterize my position, why don't you let me characterize my position. My position is as the father of six daughters. It's a very polarizing issue, to state the obvious. I believe it's a state's right, and that Pennsylvanians have decided. Republicans, Democrats alike, have supported the law we have: 24 weeks. And a governor named Casey — Senator Casey's father — signed that law into effect. And I'm in favor of the three exceptions, as you said. I would be opposed to any law or any ban, national ban on abortion. And I think it's important to point out Senator Casey's position on it. Senator Casey ran as a pro-life senator, exceptions only for life of the mother. He signed legislation in 2022...voted for legislation rather, that would have allowed abortion up until the due date and federal funding for it. So I think on this issue, I'm the guy looking for common ground, and I think Senator Casey.... and by the way, my position is consistent with his dad's, and Senator Casey is the person that's in the extreme position.
Anne Danahy
I wonder if you could elaborate on that. If you consider yourself pro-life, how do you justify making exceptions in cases of rape or incest? Because if that is the life of a baby? And similarly, how would you be OK with allowing the states to decide and not taking action at the federal level?
Dave McCormick
Well, I'd like to characterize my position just as I characterize my position. But I think the most important thing is, of course, I want to protect innocent life, and I think that abortions that are happening in the final stages of the pregnancy, late term abortions certainly are, should be, should not be permitted. And as I said, I think it's a very polarizing issue for women, for all Americans, and I think the most important thing is to let the voters decide and select public officials, elected officials that represent the views that are most consistent with their values. And so the way I rationalize that is to say Pennsylvanians get to decide, and they've decided. And I think other people in New York or Texas or California, should also have the opportunity to decide. And that may not always line up with my personal views on it, but I think that the fact that voters get to decide something of such significance to them is the important point.
Anne Danahy
And one issue that does not always have agreement by party, by Democrats or Republican, is on support for Ukraine. And you've come out in support of continuing support for Ukraine. Why is that?
Dave McCormick
Well I think, you know, we need to operate around the world in a very clear way that's in America's interest. So I understand the people that are, you know, see 160,000 people die because the border's wide open, not being anxious to send money to Ukraine. But the reason I support military aid in Ukraine, not civilian aid, is because I think that to let Putin be successful in Ukraine destabilizes Europe, which is critical to America's interests. I think it sends a bad signal to our allies around the world, like Japan and Australia and others, that that we won't stand with our allies. We had made a promise to Ukraine that if they gave up their nuclear weapons, we would stand by them. And finally, I think it sends a really dangerous signal to China, which is our biggest adversary, that we're not going to stand up. But I also agree with President Trump on two points. No. 1, I think Germany and France need to pay their fair share. They're still paying significantly less than the 2% that they agreed to, and all NATO members should pay at least 2% of GDP for their militaries. America pays more than 3% of its GDP for its military. So I would make our aid contingent on that. And then I also think we need to bring this to a negotiated settlement. I think giving Ukraine military aid equips them in a position to have a better negotiating posture. But many millions of people are being killed, hundreds of billions, maybe trillions of dollars of damage. We need to bring this to an end. It's it's a very, very horrible situation.
Anne Danahy
David McCormick, thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us.
Dave McCormick
Thank you.
