PITTSBURGH – Lt. Gov. Austin Davis told a crowd Thursday at the downtown United Steelworkers headquarters that he brought gifts to welcome likely GOP Senate candidate David McCormick to town.
“Dave McCormick is one of those guys who left Pennsylvania. While he was the company’s CEO, he fired dozens of Pittsburgh workers, got wealthy by sending American workers overseas, and doesn’t even live here. He’s a billionaire living on the Gold Coast in Connecticut,” Davis told a gathering of union workers and local officials.
“But my parents instilled some manners in me and said that when guests come, we should greet them,” he continued, “so I brought Dave McCormick two gifts: a Pittsburgh visitor’s guide and an official map of Pittsburgh, which helped him learn how get to Pittsburgh. move around western Pennsylvania as he spends more time in Allegheny County.”
A little gift for @DaveMcCormickPA for when he gets to Pittsburgh later today! pic.twitter.com/WJB6xt3t0N
— Austin Davis (@AustinDavisPA) September 21, 2023
McCormick is expected to announce his campaign for Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate seat at an event today at the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh’s Strip District. He is considered the most likely candidate to challenge U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (R-Pennsylvania), who is seeking re-election to a fourth term. McCormick lost the 2022 Pennsylvania GOP Senate primary to Mehmet Oz, who lost in the general election to Democrat John Fetterman.
As with Oz in 2022, Democrats are questioning McCormick’s residency status. McCormick grew up in Pennsylvania and owns a home in Pittsburgh, but… The Associated Press reported last month that he lists his Connecticut address on public records and has not received a property tax exemption for his home in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood.
https://www.penncapital-star.com/blog/mccormick-concedes-in-pa-gop-us-senate-primary-race/
“This gentleman will call Squirrel Hill in the 14th District his home because he has never lived there, he has never been there, and I know he is not here because I work in the community every day,” said state Sen. Jay Costa. “We know this person is a resident of Connecticut. If you want to run for U.S. Senate, go to Connecticut and run for U.S. Senate.”
Kelsey Leigh, of the Pittsburgh suburb of Mount Lebanon, said Thursday that she opposes McCormick’s candidacy because of his views on abortion. In 2016, an ultrasound showed that the pregnancy she was carrying was not possible.
“If my pregnancy had continued, he probably wouldn’t have been able to swallow,” she said, her voice trembling. “His bones would have been broken during delivery, regardless of the method. I couldn’t and didn’t want to carry my son for another four months, knowing his life would be filled with pain.”
She made the choice she felt was best for her and her family and had an abortion. “But if it were up to him, I would be deprived of my right to privacy.” Leigh noted that McCormick stated that the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in The Dobbs case that overturned Roe v. Wade was a “huge victory.”
How She informed WESA-FM this week, McCormick offered comments about the Dobbs case to Fox News host Laura Ingraham in May 2022 (when leaked early) calling the decision “a huge step forward and a huge pro-life victory”, according to the archived version program video.
“He is a dangerous extremist whose out-of-touch views on abortion are just one of many reasons he has no place in elected office in Pennsylvania,” Leigh said.
Darrin Kelly, president of the Allegheny-Fayette Central Labor Council, praised Casey, repeating the oft-quoted remark that Pennsylvania’s senior senator said, “oatmeal”, which is not usually seen as a flattering observation.
“For working families in Western Pennsylvania, oatmeal has been the staple food of many of us, from generation to generation. It made our kids stronger,” Kelly said. “So you know what, Bob Casey, you’re our porridge.”
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