April 26, 2024, 11:22 a.m.
As Democrats stare down an unfavorable Senate map, they are using any ammunition they can find against the Republican nominees or frontrunners in battleground states.
2022 candidate Dave McCormick (R), a wealthy former hedge fund executive, officially became the nominee in Pennsylvania against Sen. Bob Casey (D) earlier this week. McCormick is one of many top GOP candidates in the country thanks to his ability to self-finance his campaign and strong run last cycle.
But Democrats have been quick to point to questions about McCormick’s Pennsylvania pedigree. They are criticizing him for living in Connecticut as evidence and only campaigning part time.
McCormick’s campaign has shot back, saying he’s “a divorced dad who spends time with his daughter, and if that's a political problem, so be it.”
In the first quarter, McCormick raised around $3.4 million in individual campaign contributions, plus a $971,000 candidate loan.
Just 29% of his almost $3.4 million total, or $997,351, comes from individual donors within Pennsylvania. Donors with a Florida address gave about $480,000, or 14%. And $307,000 or 9%, came from California.
Despite having a large amount of contributions from out of state, McCormick only got $89,837 from Connecticut.
Although McCormick’s Q1 fundraising roundup doesn’t easily prove or disprove the carpetbagging allegations, it does speak volumes about his ability to self-fund his campaign: McCormick loaned himself $1 million in Q4.
The NRSC has faced candidate recruitment issues in recent years. One of their strategies heading into this cycle was to recruit candidates who can self-fund their own campaigns.
Real estate executive Eric Hovde (R) in Wisconsin and former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy (R) in Montana are two wealthy GOP candidates who have also faced carpetbagging allegations. Hovde owns a bank in Utah and a multi-million dollar home in California and Sheehy is the CEO of Bridger Aerospace and previously lived in Minnesota. Both are running in must-win races for Republicans.
With campaigns across the country becoming more nationalized and drawing more ideological attention from donors out of state, a candidate's residence might not be as important to voters as it once was.
—Hannah Thacker
hthacker@nationaljournal.com
