by Linda Stein
In an interview with RealClearPennsylvania US Senator Dave McCormick listed his achievements in his first year in office, including among the “Big Five”: Nippon-US Steel Agreement, Amazon worth $20 billion investments in data centers, Energy Summit bringing a $92 billion investment to the Commonwealth and a $5 billion deal in which a Korean company Hanwha to the Philadelphia shipyard.
The number of ships built per year will boost from 1.5 to 20, which will create 5,000 fresh jobs. And Westinghouse announced during the summer energy summit in Pittsburgh that it would build 10 nuclear power plants in Pennsylvania. Then in October, the company announced an $80 billion investment in partnership with the US government.
“Any one of these five things in one year would be unprecedented, but to have all five things happen in one year is really special,” McCormick said. “I think it’s a testament to the direction we’re going and the kind of opportunity. We just have to seize the moment and make the most of it.”
McCormick added: “I think I kind of redefined the role of a senator, and I did that at the Energy Summit in Pittsburgh. I don’t think that’s ever happened before. Not just in Pennsylvania, but across the country.”
President Trumpmembers of his cabinet, Governor Josh ShapiroAND Senator John Fettermanboth Democrats, were in attendance along with CEOs from the energy, technology and investment sectors. It announced that the $92 billion in investment would create “thousands of jobs,” McCormick said.
“I would be hard-pressed to find anything in modern history that parallels this, and I know that sounds boastful, but I truly believe it’s true.”
The former Bridgewater CEO brought a top-management sensibility to his fresh job as Pennsylvania’s junior senator. However, according to a fresh source, these achievements are not evident in the public perception RealClearPennsylvania Pollwhich shows that only 34% of Pennsylvanians approve of the job McCormick is doing as senator, 28% disapprove, and 37% are neutral or have never heard of him.
McCormick downplayed these results.
“Most polls showed me losing the Senate race by 12 or 15 points,” said McCormick, who narrowly defeated former U.S. Sen. Bob Casey Jr., a Democrat, in 2024 by 15,115 votes.
“It is not unusual for a U.S. senator to disappear unnoticed, especially in the first year of his first term,” he said Berwood YostDirector of the Floyd Institute for Public Policy and Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall College. “His numbers are also not a surprise because he had never held statewide office before his election to the Senate. Senator McCormick should be positive that more people approve than disapprove of his job performance. Politically, this is a good place to be and something he can continue to build on.”
McCormick takes his fresh job “very seriously.”
“Delivering on campaign promises, doing big, ambitious things to provide opportunities for Pennsylvanians and delivering voter services on the ground… I hope voters see that and it shows in their belief that I’m doing a good job.”
“The most important thing is to do good work and do things that will have the greatest impact on Pennsylvania,” McCormick added.
A RealClearPA poll found that more than half of Pennsylvanians fear that AI will eliminate jobs, and 35% also oppose enormous data centers being built to support AI. About 42% do not want data centers near their homes. Interestingly, 48% of men support the construction of data centers in the state, while only 29% of women approve.
McCormick, who recently co-sponsored the artificial intelligence bill improve “liquid cooling technology”, he said America must be first and best in artificial intelligence.
“Artificial intelligence is already happening,” McCormick said. “We are in the middle of a massive revolution and an energy revolution. And we are in an existential battle with China for leadership… We really can’t avoid it. The only question is whether we will be at the forefront of shaping this revolution and how it will affect us, or whether someone else will be able to decide what happens.”
“It’s like any period of great change, like the industrial revolution, the computer revolution or the digital revolution. It’s disruptive. There are great benefits and great costs.”
McCormick believes they will benefit from “skilled jobs, skilled labor to build data centers and infrastructure, as well as the benefits of massive productivity from artificial intelligence, breakthroughs in life sciences, (treatments for) disease, breakthroughs in nuclear technology.”
“From a military standpoint, it’s a huge advantage,” added McCormick, a West Point graduate who served in Iraq. “So if China were to lead and we weren’t, that would expose us to real risk.”
McCormick, however, is concerned about energy prices rising “in the near future” and making sure consumers don’t suffer. While artificial intelligence is likely to create jobs for more skilled workers, other fields such as journalism and financial services may “come under pressure,” he said.
“Whether it’s the border, fentanyl, energy dominance, or tax breaks for child care, I believe I’ve made a lot of progress supporting the legislation that’s passed and reaffirming those promises,” he said.
Asked if it was arduous for the former CEO – in a position where someone is accountable – trying to get things done as one of 100 senators, McCormick agreed that it was.
“The fact that things are moving so slowly is frustrating,” McCormick said. “You want to respect tradition, but doing it is too slow. But the founders planned it that way. The Senate was supposed to be a speed bump, to slow things down. Building coalitions to gain support can be difficult, so this is the reality.” “In addition to great legislation, we’re trying to really make a difference in Pennsylvania,” he said.
“So I’m trying to rely on my skills as a CEO and my relationship with the CEO to focus on the Pennsylvania that didn’t exist, while also realizing that the institution has a certain way of thinking that I’m going to have to learn to accept and work for Pennsylvania.”
Asked about voter complaints about lack of financial resources and health care concerns that emerged during the 2025 election, McCormick said there was “22% superimposed inflation” under Biden, while Trump lowered it to 2.9%. Gasoline has gone down and some groceries have gone up.”
“But the important thing that I don’t hear from many people is that wages have gone up by 4%, so money in their pockets has gone up. But people feel the pressure.” Congress and the administration must “work to further reduce inflation, and that is the path we are on.”
Housing is also a problem, although interest rates are lower.
“But still not enough young people can afford homes. That’s a problem,” McCormick said.
When it comes to health care, McCormick said, “costs are spiraling.” He blames Obamacare.
“It’s a dismal failure. We need to do more on health care,” he said. This is “a big cost to working families and to all of us, and we need to do much more.”
This article was originally published by RealClearPennsylvania and shared via RealClearWire.
