Republican U.S. Senate nominee Dave McCormick and Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) both raised over $8 million over the last quarter, even as both candidates paused at least some of their advertising in the wake of the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump last week.
McCormick raised slightly more than the Democratic incumbent, with his campaign reporting $8.4 million in receipts between April and June to the Federal Elections Commission. This includes a $2.06 million loan the former Trump administration official made to his own campaign.
Casey raised a comparable $8.04 million, and while the incumbent’s campaign reportedly claimed the majority of the money was raised in small-dollar donations from individuals, about $1.6 million was transferred to Casey’s campaign from other entities.
While the Democrat raised slightly less than his Republican challenger, he also finished the reporting period with slightly more cash on hand. Casey’s campaign reported having about $8.42 million in its coffers compared to the $8.01 million reported by the McCormick campaign.
Both candidates stand to keep some of their cash reserves as they pause advertising in the wake of the attempted assassination in Butler, Pennsylvania, where authorities have confirmed 20-year-old Thomas Crooks opened fire at the former president, with Trump revealing one bullet pierced his ear.
One rally attendee, former firefighter chief Corey Comperatore, died while shielding his family from Crooks’ gunfire. Two other Trump supporters were wounded at the rally.
A reporter who attended the rally additionally told The Pennsylvania Daily Star that McCormick, who was at the rally and planning to speak alongside Trump on stage, was “definitely in the line of fire.”
The day after the attempted assassination, McCormick challenged Casey to suspend all negative advertising in the race for U.S. Senate, indicating his campaign already stopped its own.
“This is a time to come together as Americans to recognize that what makes our country and its people exceptional transcends party,” wrote McCormick in a post to the social media platform X. “Let’s take some time to put aside the negativity.”
Casey’s campaign replied to the media on Monday that it contacted local media outlets to suspend all of its ads in the hours after the assassination attempt. A spokesman informed The Patriot News on Monday that “the Casey campaign worked with stations to stop advertising temporarily” on Saturday.
The spokesman said its ads would resume “in the days ahead” but did not indicate when Casey planned to resume advertising.
While the Republican Party of Pennsylvania and Virginia’s entire congressional delegation issued statements supporting Trump or disavowing political violence after the attempted assassination, the Pennsylvania Democratic Party did not respond to a Monday press inquiry from The Daily Star about whether it would release its own statement.
The party had yet to issue a statement by press time, and despite calls for unity, declared in a Tuesday post to X that Trump is “dangerous” to Pennsylvanians’ rights, freedoms, democracy, and planet.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Dave McCormick” by Dave McCormick. Photo “Bob Casey” by Bob Casey.
