HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Republican challenger David McCormick meet for their second debate Tuesday evening, with control of the Senate on the line and tens of millions of dollars pouring into the race every week.
During their first debate two weeks ago, Casey tried to drive home the message that McCormick is a wealthy, carpetbagging ex-hedge fund CEO who got rich at the expense of Americans and will serve the interests of billionaires.
McCormick painted Casey as a weak, do-nothing out-of-touch career politician who will vote almost 100% of the time with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Mail-in voting has already begun in the pivotal swing-state seat, and the outcome of this race, one of the nation’s most expensive, could help determine which party controls the narrowly divided Senate.
Casey, perhaps Pennsylvania’s best-known politician, is seeking a fourth term in what he calls his toughest reelection challenge yet.
Casey, 64, supported Biden's major initiatives, including his $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package, and is a staunch ally of labor unions. The former state auditor general and treasurer has won six statewide elections and is Pennsylvania’s longest-serving Democrat in the Senate. He has campaigned on preserving the middle class, abortion rights, labor rights and voting rights — and calls McCormick and former President Donald Trump a threat to all those.
McCormick, 59, is making his second run for the Senate after losing narrowly to Dr. Mehmet Oz in 2022’s Republican primary. He was CEO of Bridgewater Associates, the world's largest hedge fund, sat on Trump’s Defense Advisory Board and served in top positions under President George W. Bush. Those included posts as a Commerce undersecretary tasked with policy over controlling exports of sensitive technologies and a Treasury undersecretary as the administration tried to prevent bank failures during the recession.
McCormick backs Trump's pledge to extend the tax cuts he signed into law in 2017 and to carry out a mass deportation of immigrants who are in the country without permission — prioritizing people with criminal records. McCormick also opposes abortion rights, but said he wouldn't vote for a national ban on abortion.
Issues around border policy and the Israel-Hamas war are prominent in the race.
Democrats currently hold a Senate majority by the narrowest of margins, but face a difficult 2024 Senate map.
More than $190 million has been spent on this single race so far, according disclosures to the Federal Election Commission. The total is on track to exceed $320 million, based on campaign ad tracking by AdImpact, which includes spots reserved between now and Election Day.
The 60-minute debate will air starting at 7 p.m., hosted by WPVI -TV in Philadelphia, which will broadcast it live. Univision 65 in Philadelphia will simulcast it with Spanish language translation. Both stations will stream it live online, as will ABC News Live and Univision's VIX.
Both Casey and McCormick were uncontested for their party’s nominations. Also on the ballot in this race are John Thomas of the Libertarian Party, Leila Hazou of the Green Party and Marty Selker of the Constitution Party. They were not invited to the debate.
Follow Marc Levy at twitter.com/timelywriter.
FILE - Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., speaks before Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris arrives for a campaign event, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, Wilkes-Barre, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke,File)
FILE - David McCormick, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, pauses during a speech at a campaign event at the Beerded Goat Brewing Co., April 25, 2024, in Harrisburg, Pa. (AP Photo/Marc Levy, File)
FILE - This combination of photos taken in Pennsylvania shows Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., left, at a campaign event, Sept. 13, 2024, in Wilkes-Barre, and David McCormick, the Republican nominee for Senate in Pennsylvania, at a campaign event, April 25, 2024, in Harrisburg. (AP Photo, File)
LEWISTON, Maine (AP) — Lawyers for 100 survivors and relatives of victims of the deadliest shooting in Maine history have begun the formal process of suing the U.S. Army and an Army hospital for what they say was a failure to act to stop the reservist responsible for the crime, attorneys announced Tuesday.
The individual notices of claim say the Army was aware of the reservist's mental health decline that left him paranoid, delusional and expressing homicidal ideations, producing a “hit list” of those he wanted to attack.
“It is difficult to conceive of a case in which Army personnel could have more warning signs and opportunities to intervene to prevent a service member from committing a mass shooting than what happened in the case of Army Reservist Robert Card,” lawyers wrote in their notices mailed Friday.
The notices of claim by four law firms are a required step in suing the federal government. The Army will have six months to determine whether to respond, after which a lawsuit may be filed. The Army had no immediate response Tuesday.
Eighteen people were killed when the 40-year-old Card opened fire at two locations he'd frequented — a bowling alley and a cornhole league hosted by a bar and grill — on Oct. 25, 2023. An additional 13 people were injured. Card was found dead by suicide two days later.
An independent commission appointed by Maine's governor concluded that there were ample opportunities to intervene by both civilian law enforcement and the Army. For now, lawyers for victims, as well as relatives and friends who suffered loss, are focusing on the Army, not on a private hospital that treated Card or on civilian law enforcement.
The Department of Defense, U.S. Army and Army Keller Hospital “broke its promises, failed to act reasonably, violated its own polices and procedures and disregarded directives and orders,” the claim said.
In September 2023, when Card threatened to “shoot up” an armory and his friend warned of "a mass shooting,” the Army did not provide critical background about two doctors recommending that Card not have access to weapons when it requested that local law enforcement officers check on his well-being, the claims said. Card's commanding officer even downplayed the threat by undercutting the credibility of the soldier who issued the warning and by declining to share all information at his disposal, the claims said.
Cynthia Young, whose husband, William, and 14-year-old son, Aaron, were killed at the bowling alley, said in a statement that the pain and trauma never go away. “As terrible as the shooting was, it’s even more tragic that there were many opportunities to prevent this and they were not taken,” she added.
The filings said there may have been a time when mass shootings were so rare that they couldn’t be predicted, but “that has not been true in America for decades.”
“Mass shootings, like what happened in Lewiston, are an epidemic in America. Consequently, those in positions of responsibility and authority are required to appreciate the warning signs and behaviors that telegraph the risk of mass violence, take them seriously, and act to prevent their occurrence," the claims said.
FILE - A man photographs a make-shift memorial at the base of the Lewiston sign at Veteran's Memorial Park, Oct. 29, 2023, in Lewiston, Maine. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)
FILE - A woman visits a makeshift memorial outside Sparetime Bowling Alley, the site of a mass shooting, Oct. 28, 2023, in Lewiston, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)
FILE - Rain-soaked memorials for those who died in a mass shooting sit along the roadside by Schemengees Bar & Grille, Oct. 30, 2023, in Lewiston, Maine. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)
FILE - Law enforcement personnel are staged in a school parking lot during a manhunt for Robert Card in the aftermath of a mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, Oct. 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
FILE — In this image taken from New York State Police body camera video that was obtained by WMTW-TV 8 in Portland, Maine, New York State Police interview Army reservist Robert Card, the man responsible for Maine's deadliest mass shooting, at Camp Smith, in Cortlandt, N.Y., July 16, 2023. (WMTW-TV 8/New York State Police via AP, File)
FILE - Law enforcement gather outside Schemengee's Bar and Grille, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, in Lewiston, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)
