Five for Friday: 2024 U.S. Senate race fast facts

Sure, there are appellate judicial elections right around the corner, but with the White House and a Pennsylvania Senate seat up for grabs in 2024, much of the political prognostications in the commonwealth are centered around what will happen next year. 

This week there were new – and early – developments in the state’s budding race for U.S. Senate in 2024. City & State has your Five for Friday, taking a look at five things you need to know about the cast of characters vying for the Keystone State’s Senate seat.

Casey reports raising $3.2 million in third quarter

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, the 16-year incumbent seeking a fourth term in the U.S. Senate, this week reported raising $3.2 million in the most recent quarter – a sum his campaign says is already larger than any quarter of his 2018 reelection campaign. Casey reported raising $4 million in the second quarter of this year – the most he has ever raised in a quarter. No fundraising totals are available yet for Republican David McCormick, who entered the Senate race on Sept. 21.

An early poll favors Casey

The good news kept coming for Casey this week, as a poll released by Quinnipiac University showed him with a 6-point lead over McCormick. The poll showed Casey getting the support of 50% of registered voters, compared to 44% who said they would back McCormick. According to The Hill, independent voters were largely split over the two candidates, with 45% supporting McCormick and 44% supporting Casey.

McCormick has early GOP support this time

This Senate campaign is already shaping up to be different for McCormick, who was unsuccessful in his bid to capture the GOP nomination in last year’s Senate race. This time, however, McCormick was able to win the support of the state’s entire GOP congressional delegation, and in late September, McCormick also received an endorsement from the Pennsylvania Republican Party, which did not endorse a primary candidate in 2022. 

Could flight records become a problem?

McCormick, a former executive at the Connecticut-based Bridgewater Associates, has continued to face questions and criticisms over his residency. The Messenger reported this week that McCormick participates in a fractional ownership program that allows people to access private jets, and that flight records show frequent flights between Connecticut and Pennsylvania around the time McCormick was launching his campaign. McCormick, for his part, has defended his time in Connecticut, noting during an appearance on ABC 27’s “This Week in Pennsylvania” that he is divorced and travels to Connecticut to see his daughter, who lives there. “If there’s a political cost associated with that, so be it,” McCormick told ABC 27.

Other candidates

Unlike in 2022, when there was a wide field of candidates seeking to replace then-Sen. Pat Toomey, next year’s field is shaping up to be fairly small. Outside of Casey and McCormick, just one other candidate has declared their intent to run for Senate. Blaine Forkner, an electrical engineer and Allegheny County resident, is running in the primary against Casey, promoting a platform that includes universal health care and strengthened background checks for gun purchases, according to Politics PA.