The editorial board of Pennsylvania's largest newspaper, The Philadelphia Inquirer, endorsed Democratic Senator Bob Casey and rebuked his Donald Trump-backed challenger, Republican Dave McCormick, on Saturday.
With less than three weeks until Election Day, which will determine who controls Congress as well as the White House, the Senate majority is up for grabs, with razor-thin margins. The upper chamber is controlled by the Democrats, who hold a narrow majority of 51 seats (four independents caucus with the party), while the Republicans hold 49.
Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are relentlessly vying for Pennsylvania's 19 Electoral College votes—more than any other swing state—because they could determine the outcome of the election.
McCormick is a businessman, veteran and politician who previously served as chief executive officer of Bridgewater Associates, a large hedge fund, and undersecretary of the Treasury for international affairs during the George W. Bush administration.
Polls over the past few months have repeatedly shown McCormick trailing Casey, who has represented the state in the Senate since 2007 and serves as the chair of the Senate's Special Committee on Aging.
The Inquirer, which has the largest circulation in Pennsylvania, began its critique of McCormick by noting his "tenuous links to the state." McCormick's residency has been scrutinized during the campaign because of concerns about his long residency in Connecticut, although he has affirmed that he lives in Pittsburgh.
The opinion piece then praised Casey's tenure, saying, "No matter who prevails in the presidential race this year, Pennsylvanians can count on Casey to fight the good fight in Washington, D.C.
"The same cannot be said of his opponent," the board continued, adding that McCormick "declined to meet with the Editorial Board."
Newsweek has reached out to Casey's and McCormick's campaigns via email for comment on Saturday.
The board then dug into McCormick's business career, writing, "Some of McCormick's private-sector decisions suggest he may be unsuited to protect the public interest. His hedge fund bet against many of the state's most iconic companies, which are also major employers. More than 50 Pennsylvania-based companies, from U.S. Steel to Hershey, were shorted by McCormick's firm."
Shorting refers to betting that a company's stock will decline, a strategy that can be highly lucrative for investors and financial firms.
The newspaper denounced McCormick's record as "in deep contradiction with itself" regarding various policy stances, including divesting from China and abortion rights. The board urged voters to "reelect the thoughtful and deliberate Bob Casey and reject the hedge fund CEO from Connecticut."
The most recent Senate poll shows Casey with a 9-point lead over McCormick. A UMass Lowell/YouGov of 800 likely voters, conducted between October 2 and 9, found Casey with 48 percent support and McCormick with 39 percent. Ten percent of voters were undecided, and 3 percent said they support other candidates. The poll's margin of error is
That same poll asked respondents about the presidential race, finding Harris with a narrow lead over Trump, 46 percent to 45 percent, which falls within the poll's margin of error of plus or minus 3.97 percentage points.
Most Pennsylvania presidential polls show a narrow margin between the Republican and Democratic nominees, with leads fluctuating within the margin of error, making the state a true toss-up. In 2016, the former president narrowly won Pennsylvania against Hillary Clinton, but in 2020 President Joe Biden flipped the state back.
Harris' clearest path to victory next month would be to win the three "blue wall" battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, barring any shock results elsewhere. Trump's most efficient path to 270 Electoral College votes would be to win the swing states of North Carolina and Georgia while flipping Pennsylvania.
The New York Times' Pennsylvania aggregate poll has Harris ahead of Trump, 49 to 48 percent while The Hill's aggregate polling puts Harris at 48.7 percent and Trump at 48.3 percent.
FiveThirtyEight shows a much closer race, with a 0.1 percent margin. Harris is at 47.9 percent and Trump at 47.7 percent.
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