HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Democratic Sen. Bob Casey will search a fourth time period in workplace, bringing the ability of incumbency and unmatched title recognition in Pennsylvania politics to his get together’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, provides Democrats a lift forward of a tough 2024 Senate map. They have to defend incumbents not solely in crimson states — Montana, Ohio and West Virginia — but in addition 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 average Democrat, has backed all of Biden’s high priorities and solid an in depth relationship with the president, no less than partially as a result of the lads even have a bond that goes past politics: They hail from the identical hometown of Scranton.
In working for reelection, Casey’s message sounds just like how Biden’s marketing campaign for a second time period could sound. Casey factors to landmark payments produced by a Democratic-controlled Congress that may increase spending on infrastructure corresponding to airports and broadband web, to reinvigorate a home semiconductor business, to subsidize hydrogen gasoline crops and to decrease drug prices for Medicare recipients.
Casey has forged himself as standing as much as what he calls “company particular pursuits,” and stated there's extra to do to decrease the price of dwelling for working households, corresponding to baby care or prescribed drugs.
“Meaning being prepared to struggle and never again down from any struggle for these communities and people households,” Casey stated in an interview final week.
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 packages that Casey has lengthy championed.
Casey stated 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 packages.
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 robust assist from get together brass, has a solid-gold resume as a embellished 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 in opposition to Oz, the Donald Trump-backed candidate who went on to lose the final election to Democrat John Fetterman.
If he runs, McCormick could have a contested main: State Sen. Doug Mastriano has stated he could run and advised that he would win a main “fingers down.” That's prompting handwringing from get together leaders after Mastriano, endorsed by Trump, ran a hard-right marketing campaign within the governor’s race final yr, and was crushed soundly.
Many Republicans acknowledge that it is going to 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 no prime committee chairmanship in his portfolio. In Pennsylvania, he has run statewide seven instances already — profitable 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 gained his 2018 race by 13 proportion factors — and saved an energetic schedule on the marketing campaign path final yr by serving to Fetterman.
Nonetheless, Casey stated he all the time expects a tricky race, given Pennsylvania’s standing as a battleground state.
“I’ve been spending years on the highway and going to all of our 67 counties and delivering for the folks of our state and communities in our state,” Casey stated. “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 without doubt one of the final lawmakers on Capitol Hill to name himself a “ pro-life Democrat, ” and backed a invoice final yr to jot down abortion rights into federal regulation when it grew to become obvious that the Supreme Courtroom 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 Courtroom in the end upheld Roe within the case however allowed states so as to add some limitations on the process.
Casey has stated he doesn't assist 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 assist ladies and households.
In January, as he equipped for the marketing campaign, Casey introduced that he would endure surgical procedure for prostate most cancers. Greater than seven weeks after surgical procedure, Casey stated he feels totally recovered. His workplace has stated the process went effectively and that he would require no additional remedy. He has since returned to work.
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