(WHTM) – Less than one year after losing the 2022 Republican primary for Pennsylvania’s open U.S. Senate seat, Dave McCormick reportedly met with Republican leaders with speculation he may run a second campaign.
According to the Associated Press, McCormick spoke at a multiday National Republican Senatorial Committee retreat at the Breakers, a luxury resort in Palm Beach, Florida, with senators and potential candidates in attendance.
A former hedge fund CEO, McCormick narrowly lost the crowded 2022 Republican primary to the Donald Trump-backed candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz by 950 votes.
McCormick conceded the primary after an automatic recount was triggered, and Oz was defeated by Democrat John Fetterman in the November election by more than 263,000 votes.
With McCormick meeting with national Republicans, the Associated Press reports McCormick is now considering another U.S. Senate run in 2024 for incumbent Democrat Senator Bob Casey’s seat.
Casey, who is recovering from recent prostate cancer surgery, has not formally announced whether he will seek re-election. In January Cook Political Report lists Casey’s seat as one of five “leaning Democrat.”
If he enters the primary, McCormick has also been promised support from the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC linked to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell that spends millions of dollars on TV advertising, according to two other Republican strategists familiar with the matter.
That serves as a warning to anyone else thinking about the race: If McCormick gets in, he would have the full weight and resources of the Senate Republican campaign operation behind him.
At this point, no other Republican candidates have announced their intentions to run in 2024. The 2022 primary ballot featured seven Republican candidates, only three of whom received at least 20%, and the other four of which received less than 6% each.
Marc Levy of The Associated Press contributed to this report
