Senate aspirant McCormick 'feels at home' during NEPA campaign stop

Jan. 22—WILKES-BARRE — Dave McCormick took a break from the crowd at Isabella Restaurant Friday night to talk about his campaign for the U.S. Senate and he was sure to make one clear point.

"This feels like home," said McCormick, the 56-year-old Republican who is seeking the GOP nomination for the soon to be vacated Senate seat of Sen. Pat Toomey.

"These are my people. We all want an America we grew up in and want our kids and grandkids to have."

Sitting with McCormick was Hope Hicks, who is serving the campaign as a consultant. Hicks served in the Trump Administration and she believes McCormick is the man for the job in Pennsylvania.

"We intend to be in this area several more times during the campaign," Hicks said. "This area supported President Trump and they will support Dave McCormick when they get to know him."

And McCormick said he is raising the funds for a competitive campaign that also includes a crowded Republican field. One of the other GOP aspirants, Dr. Mehmet Oz, visited Old Forge earlier this week.

"We are getting a lot of support," McCormick said. "We will be able to get our story out to the voters."

That story will tell how McCormick feels about the economy, energy and protecting our borders, and others that he says speak to middle America's working people.

McCormick spent the evening working the room at Isabella, talking and listening to what each had to say. As his campaign states, McCormick is "battle tested, Pennsylvania true — born and raised in Pennsylvania who lived in Bloomsburg and Pittsburgh — attended West Point, served as an Army paratrooper in the Gulf War."

McCormick said he created 1,000 jobs in Pittsburgh with a start-up company he took public. He served in the Bush Administration at in the Commerce Department, the National Security Council and as an Undersecretary at the Department of Treasury.

Most recently, McCormick has been the CEO of one of the world's largest and most successful financial firms. He describes himself as "a strong leader, driven by honor, character, principles and integrity."

"This week marks one year since Joe Biden took office," McCormick said. "I've watched the destruction Biden and the Democrats have unleashed on our nation and cannot stand by and let it continue."

McCormick told the crowd that Biden inherited the most secure border, fastest economic recovery, historically low gas prices, hard-won energy independence and a domestic manufacturing renaissance from President Trump.

"One year into his presidency and Biden has created the highest inflation we've seen in decades, as a direct result of his reckless spending agenda and policies that inhibit growth," he said. "Pennsylvanians are feeling this at the pump and at the store. I've run very successful businesses and am the only candidate who knows how to get the economy back on track and moving again.

McCormick also spoke about "Biden's disastrous handling of Afghanistan" that left 13 U.S. troops dead and hundreds of innocent civilians behind.

"As a combat veteran, if elected to the Senate, I will always fight for our great military and U.S. interests," McCormick said. "Biden made the greatest country — and greatest military — on Earth look weak on the world stage. That's unacceptable."

McCormick said he knows what it takes to win.

"I'm battle tested, Pennsylvania true," he said. "And that's how the people of Pennsylvania can rest assured that I will never let them down."

About McCormick

McCormick was born in Pittsburgh and raised in Bloomsburg, where he spent the summers baling hay and trimming Christmas trees on his family and neighboring farms.

During his high school years, he put the strength he learned working on the farm to work on the mat and on the football field as a varsity wrestler and linebacker at Bloomsburg High School.

He was appointed to the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering. While at West Point, Dave was a four-time letterman on the Army wrestling team and a co-captain his senior year.

After receiving his doctorate in international affairs from Princeton in 1996, he came home to Pittsburgh, where he joined and eventually lead a technology company called FreeMarkets, which created over 1,000 jobs.

He went on to join and eventually lead hedge fund Bridgewater Associates, where he eventually became Co-CEO and then sole Chief Executive Officer in 2020.

Reach Bill O'Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.