Republican multimillionaire businessman Dave McCormick defeated incumbent Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) in the Nov. 5 election, giving the GOP a crucial extra seat in its Senate majority, The Associated Press projected on Nov. 7.
Republicans won Senate control on election night, and this win brings its majority up to 53 seats to Democrats’ 45, with two races—Arizona and Nevada—left to be called.
“I always knew from Day One it was going to be a very close race,” McCormick said in response to a question from The Epoch Times on Sept. 10.
McCormick ran on a broad coalition, appealing to former President Donald Trump’s voters but also to key constituencies skeptical or critical of Trump, including independents and suburbanites.
“The key for my winning is to be able to talk to voters that are on the fence, voters that could go either way,” McCormick said.
Trump endorsed McCormick.
For most of the election cycle, polls showed Casey ahead, but the race tightened in October.
McCormick told The Epoch Times on Nov. 5 that he attributed the trend to voters paying more attention after Labor Day.
McCormick ran for the GOP nomination for Senate in 2022 but was narrowly defeated by TV host Dr. Mehmet Oz, who went on to lose to former Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman.
McCormick was in the U.S. Army and served during the 1991 Gulf War.
He worked at McKinsey & Company before eventually joining Bridgewater Associates, where he was president. He served in multiple roles in the Bush administration.
Casey, like Biden, was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He served as Pennsylvania state treasurer between 2005 and 2007 and auditor general between 1997 and 2005.
His father, Bob Casey Sr., was Pennsylvania governor between 1987 and 1995.
One of the main issues that came up in the race was abortion.
Casey voted in 2021 against an amendment that would have banned abortion nationwide after 20 weeks. He voted in favor of a bill, in 2018 and 2020, that would have done the same.
McCormick’s campaign focused on the border, energy, the economy, and fentanyl.
McCormick will take office on Jan. 3, 2025.