HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Democratic Sen. Bob Casey will search a fourth time period in workplace, bringing the ability of incumbency and unmatched identify recognition in Pennsylvania politics to his social gathering’s protection of a seat in a essential presidential battleground state.
The announcement by Casey, the longest-serving Democratic U.S. senator in Pennsylvania historical past, offers Democrats a lift forward of a tough 2024 Senate map. They have to defend incumbents not solely in pink states — Montana, Ohio and West Virginia — but additionally in a number of swing states.
Casey, who will flip 63 in just a few days, is a key ally of labor unions and President Joe Biden. In Congress, Casey, a reasonable Democrat, has backed all of Biden’s prime priorities and cast an in depth relationship with the president, at the very least partly as a result of the lads even have a bond that goes past politics: They hail from the identical hometown of Scranton.
In operating for reelection, Casey’s message sounds just like how Biden’s marketing campaign for a second time period might sound. Casey factors to landmark payments produced by a Democratic-controlled Congress that may develop spending on infrastructure similar to airports and broadband web, to reinvigorate a home semiconductor trade, to subsidize hydrogen gasoline vegetation and to decrease drug prices for Medicare recipients.
Casey has solid himself as standing as much as what he calls “company particular pursuits,” and mentioned there’s extra to do to decrease the price of dwelling for working households, similar to youngster care or prescribed drugs.
“Meaning being keen to combat and never again down from any combat for these communities and people households,” Casey mentioned in an interview final week.
AP Photograph/Patrick Semansky, File
The Senate Republicans’ marketing campaign arm, the Nationwide Republican Senatorial Committee, is already attacking Casey for voting for legal guidelines below Biden that they are saying have worsened inflation, and threatened Social Safety and Medicare – two applications that Casey has lengthy championed.
Casey mentioned Republicans “dreamed that up” and countered that the GOP has lengthy been hostile to Medicaid, Medicare and Social Safety by proposing budgets and coverage concepts that may “devastate” the applications.
Republicans do not need a deep bench to problem Casey, however they do have one potential top-tier candidate: former hedge fund CEO David McCormick, who narrowly misplaced the GOP nomination for Senate in 2022 to Dr. Mehmet Oz.
McCormick, who has sturdy help from social gathering brass, has a solid-gold resume as a adorned Gulf Struggle veteran who graduated from West Level, acquired a doctoral diploma from Princeton, served within the highest ranges of then-President George W. Bush’s administration and ran one of many world’s largest hedge funds.
He additionally has deep pockets and connections throughout spheres of politics, enterprise and authorities from which to attract endorsements and marketing campaign contributions — none of which was sufficient to prevail towards Oz, the Donald Trump-backed candidate who went on to lose the overall election to Democrat John Fetterman.
If he runs, McCormick might have a contested major: State Sen. Doug Mastriano has mentioned he might run and advised that he would win a major “arms down.” That’s prompting handwringing from social gathering leaders after Mastriano, endorsed by Trump, ran a hard-right marketing campaign within the governor’s race final 12 months, and was crushed soundly.
Many Republicans acknowledge that it will likely be tough to beat Casey. Some privately say he can’t be crushed.
Casey is maybe Pennsylvania’s best-known politician, even when he has a comparatively low profile in Washington with out a prime committee chairmanship in his portfolio. In Pennsylvania, he has run statewide seven instances already — successful six of these races — and is the son of the state’s former two-term governor.
He has by no means ran an in depth race for Senate — he received his 2018 race by 13 share factors — and stored an lively schedule on the marketing campaign path final 12 months by serving to Fetterman.
Nonetheless, Casey mentioned he all the time expects a troublesome race, given Pennsylvania’s standing as a battleground state.
“I’ve been spending years on the street and going to all of our 67 counties and delivering for the individuals of our state and communities in our state,” Casey mentioned. “And that’s the form of strategy I’ll take to the marketing campaign: We’re going to go in all places and attempt to earn each vote.”
He is among the final lawmakers on Capitol Hill to name himself a “ pro-life Democrat, ” and backed a invoice final 12 months to write down abortion rights into federal regulation when it turned obvious that the Supreme Court docket would overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling.
Casey isn’t just any Democrat within the abortion debate. His father, former Gov. Bob Casey, Sr., opposed abortion rights and signed laws within the state that spawned one other landmark abortion case, Deliberate Parenthood v. Casey. In 1992, the Supreme Court docket finally upheld Roe within the case however allowed states so as to add some limitations on the process.
Casey has mentioned he doesn’t help a whole ban on abortion, and believes that lawmakers ought to work to scale back the variety of abortions and unintended pregnancies of their states, and to do extra to help girls and households.
In January, as he equipped for the marketing campaign, Casey introduced that he would bear surgical procedure for prostate most cancers. Greater than seven weeks after surgical procedure, Casey mentioned he feels absolutely recovered. His workplace has mentioned the process went effectively and that he would require no additional remedy. He has since returned to work.