Former Bridgewater Associates Chief Executive Officer and Bush administration official David McCormick formally entered the Pennsylvania Senate Republican primary Thursday, after months of deliberation.
McCormick filed paperwork with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) Wednesday before releasing a launch video to YouTube on Thursday morning. His campaign will be staffed by Trump administration veterans Stephen Miller, Hope Hicks and Cliff Sims. McCormick’s wife, Dina Powell McCormick, served as President Donald Trump’s Deputy National Security Adviser for Strategy and held multiple roles in the Bush administration.
“I’ve been fighting my whole life,” McCormick declared in his launch video, “and now I’m running for the U.S. Senate, to fight the woke mob hijacking America’s future.”
Watch the video here:
Shortly after McCormick’s announcement, fellow candidate and television host Dr. Mehmet Oz’s campaign accused him of being weak on China.
“Beijing’s favorite candidate David McCormick’s deep ties to the Chinese Communist Party aren’t just problematic, they are dangerous. A senator for Pennsylvania should not have a sterling record of enriching the Chinese Communist Party,” campaign manager Casey Contres said in a statement. (RELATED: These Are The Most Important Senate Races In 2022)
Bridgewater Chief Investment Officer Ray Dalio was roundly criticized in December after comparing the Chinese government to a “strict parent,” while claiming that the Chinese people view their government “as an extension of the family.” He later claimed that he made the comments because he was “deeply concerned about war.”
In an attempt to head off those criticisms, McCormick contributed an op-ed Thursday to Fox Business in which he argued that the U.S. government should “move medical, pharmaceutical, and other critical supply chains out of China and bringing manufacturing jobs back home to the Commonwealth,” while “blocking Chinese acquisition of U.S. technology, and countering Chinese propaganda, especially on Big Tech platforms.”
The Republican primary to replace retiring Sen. Pat Toomey is considered wide open, following the decision by Army veteran and Fox News contributor Sean Parnell to suspend his campaign in the wake of a divorce. Trump endorsed Parnell, and is not expected to make another endorsement until after the primary. Other Republican candidates include businessman Jeff Bartos and former Ambassador to Denmark Carla Sands.
On the Democratic side, several polls have shown Lt. Gov. John Fetterman with a commanding lead over Rep. Conor Lamb and state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta.