PENSBURG — Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley traveled to Pennsylvania last Wednesday before the 2024 election to rally support for GOP U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick in regions that have moved away from the Republican Party over the past decade.
“I am going to ask all of you to refrain from getting emotional during this election. We need to get out of the heat of this election and really think about these policies and what they mean for our children and the next generation,” Haley told an audience in suburban Philadelphia.
“In six days we will finally learn our fate,” Haley said. “The reason I wanted to come here for Dave, who seemed so important to me, is because when I look at his opponent, I actually get a little angry,” he added that Casey voted with the Biden administration 98% of the time.
Haley spoke for less than 10 minutes, praising McCormick and linking his Democratic opponent, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (R-Pa.), to the Biden-Harris administration.
Haley criticized Casey for supporting the Inflation Reduction Act, the American Rescue Plan and the CHIPS Act. Casey, seeking a fourth term in the Senate, touted these bills and how they benefited the people of Pennsylvania. Haley also echoed much of the Republican Party’s messaging this cycle on the U.S. southern border and energy policy.
Haley praised McCormick for signing the term limits pledge that he will serve no more than two terms and for supporting a balanced budget amendment that she believes will keep Democrats and Republicans in check on government spending.
Haley sought the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential nomination, but he withdrew from the race in Marchwhich cleared the way for former President Donald Trump to secure the party’s nomination. McCormick did not endorse any candidate in the GOP presidential primary until Haley withdrew her candidacyhe then publicly announced his support for Trump.
Trump and Haley went back and forth on the campaign trail, with Haley accusing Trump of being unbalanced and hazardous internationally and Trump calling her “bird brain“I insulting her husband’s military service.
Despite attacks during the campaign, Haley endorsed Trump in July.
Nikki Haley withdraws from GOP contest, refusing to support Trump
Haley, once again asking the audience to disregard emotions, insisted that she would support Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee.
“We have to do more than just elect Dave McCormick,” she said. “We must elect Donald Trump.”
“Because if Donald Trump wins Pennsylvania, Dave McCormick will win Pennsylvania,” Haley said.
McCormick delivered his usual speech lasting about 10 minutes, saying he would provide “strong leadership to shake things up and drive change.”
“That’s what this race is about,” he said.
McCormick compared the current moment to 1980, when 80% of Americans just before Ronald Reagan was elected president, he believed the country was heading in the wrong direction.
“I hope, I pray that in a few years I will be in front of this group again, President Trump will be in the White House, I will be your senator from Pennsylvania,” he said.
The Pennsylvania Democratic Party criticized McCormick for his recent residence in Connecticutcomments he made during the 2022 U.S. Senate race abortion policyAND investments made in China when he was a hedge fund manager at Bridgewater.
“Pennsylvanians cannot trust that David McCormick will be behind them,” said Pennsylvania Democratic Party spokeswoman TaNisha Cameron.
Craig Snyder is the former chief of staff to U.S. Senator Arlen Specter of the Pennsylvania Republican Party and leads the “Haley votes for Harris“coalition.
He told the Capital-Star on Wednesday that he thinks Haley’s campaign for McCormick in Pennsylvania “may do marginal good for McCormick,” but he doesn’t believe it will have a really massive impact on the presidential race.
“In other words, I think at this point a very large group of Haley voters will vote for Harris in the presidential election,” Snyder told the Capital-Star. “I think we will actually see tickets split both ways.”
Snyder said he believes you will “see” Harris-McCormick voters who are mostly women in the suburbs of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, while a “significant number” of Trump-Casey voters will be in areas where the Casey family has been historically forceful, including around Scranton.
After Haley withdrew from the presidential race, Biden and Harris have made efforts to win over these Republicans who supported her candidacy.
During the 2024 Pennsylvania elementary schools, Haley received 158,000 votesi.e. 16%, even though she ended her candidacy a month before the elections.
Its strongest counties were in the Philadelphia suburbs and received almost 25% of the vote in Delaware, Chester and Montgomery counties. She also scored just under 20% in Allegheny and Bucks counties.
After the rally, supporters lined up to shake Haley’s hand and take photos with her.
“It’s great to be here with Dave. We’re going to take Pennsylvania,” Haley told reporters following her. She did not answer questions from reporters asking whether she would campaign with Trump before the election. Trump reportedly did not ask Haley to campaign for him.
McCormick did not answer questions after the rally. He and Haley are scheduled to hold a rally in Allegheny County on Wednesday evening.
Dina Powell McCormick, Dave’s wife, opened up to Haley at the rally. For a few minutes she talked about their similarities, including: on cooperation during the Trump administration. During the Trump administration, she was deputy national security strategic advisor for the United States, and Haley was ambassador to the United Nations.
On Wednesday, Casey campaigned in Lancaster with former Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Ron Castill, a Republican who supports his candidacy. Earlier this week Casey joined former President Barack Obama at a rally in Philadelphia, where he said, “there is no one more humble, more honest, more rooted in his community and more committed to this great state than Bob Casey.”
York County District Attorney Dave Sunday, the Republican Party’s nominee for attorney general, also spoke at Wednesday’s rally in support of McCormick’s candidacy.
“As a prosecutor, I can’t do this alone,” Sunday said. “And what will I need as attorney general to fight to keep fentanyl off our streets. I will need a United States Senator who will work with me every day to do everything we can to protect the people of Pennsylvania, and that person will be Dave McCormick.”
Wednesday was Haley’s first rally with McCormick.
Montgomery County, the third most populous county in the state, hosted several high-profile campaign events during the U.S. Senate race. BidenUS senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) i Governor Josh Shapiro they campaigned for Casey in the county during the early stages of the campaign.
Trump lost all the collar counties and Allegheny County, where Haley and McCormick are campaigning Wednesday night.
Polls show the race between Casey and McCormick has tightened, with the incumbent leader leading by a majority, but within the margin of error.
The three national ratings agencies have slightly different rating ranges for the U.S. Senate race in Pennsylvania. Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball rates this race as “leaning toward Democrats”; Inside the elections claims race ’tilts Democrats’; and Cook Political Report judging it as a “throwaway”.
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