David McCormick says his campaign raised $6.4M in Q4, including $1M of his own money
By John Cole, Pennsylvania Capital-Star
Republican David McCormick announced his U.S. Senate campaign raised $6.4 million in the final quarter of 2023, which included $1 million of his own money.
The total includes contributions from his campaign committee, joint fundraising committee, and himself, according to a press release from the campaign on Monday.
“Dave McCormick has earned the support of Pennsylvanians from all walks of life because they believe he is the kind of leader who can address the burden of inflation on working families, push for a secure border, and protect the security of Americans at home and abroad,” campaign manager Matt Gruda said in a statement.
McCormick’s campaign did not mention how much money his campaign spent from the beginning of October to the end of December, or the amount of cash on hand the Republican candidate had to start 2024.
The McCormick campaign did not immediately respond to a request from the Capital-Star seeking the formal Federal Election Commission (FEC) filing.
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) has not released his 4th quarter campaign finance report yet. His campaign raised $3.2 million in the third quarter of 2023, which was slightly down from his personal best of $4 million in Q2 of 2023.
As of October 2023, Casey’s campaign had $7.4 million cash on hand.
The deadline for campaigns to file their fourth quarter fundraising reports to the Federal Election Commission is next week.
McCormick is widely viewed as the frontrunner for the Republican Party nomination for U.S. Senate to face Casey in November, as neither candidate has any credible primary challengers.
Both candidates began calendar year 2024 emphasizing the importance of Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate race, which will help determine who controls the upper chamber. McCormick said during a press call with reporters on Jan. 5 that he thinks the “Republican majority will depend on what happens in Pennsylvania,” while Casey said in an interview with the Capital-Star on Jan. 6 that defending democracy is going to “be a significant issue in the campaign.”
Democrats hold a 51-49 majority in the U.S. Senate.
The Cook Political Report currently rates the U.S. Senate race in Pennsylvania as “lean Democrat.”
While this was McCormick’s first full quarter as a candidate in the 2024 cycle, it’s not his first bid for U.S. Senate. He sought the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate in 2022 to replace retiring Republican Pat Toomey, but fell short by less than 1,000 votes to Mehmet Oz, former President Donald Trump’s endorsed candidate in the race.
At this point in the previous campaign cycle, McCormick was not yet an official candidate for the Republican primary. Although McCormick was making moves to launch a campaign for U.S. Senate in 2021, he didn’t file paperwork until January 12, 2022.
In January 2022, Democrat John Fetterman held a large fundraising advantage over his primary opponents and Republicans alike, with a $2.7 million haul at the end of 2021. In January 2022, Fetterman’s campaign had already raised $12 million.
Oz, who became the GOP nominee in 2022, raised just under $670,000 in the fourth quarter, although he loaned his campaign $5.2 million.
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