HOMESTEAD, Pennsylvania – Army combat veteran Sean Parnell gave his endorsement last night to Republican U.S. Senate primary candidate Dave McCormick. He did it on Instagram and then in person at a microbrewery in this former steel town, located along the Monongahela River, 6 miles outside the city of Pittsburgh.
Parnell dropped out of the race in November after a judge gave his estranged wife custody of the couple’s children.
McCormick has called Pennsylvania home for much of his life. He lived in Washington, Pennsylvania, until he was 7; his formative years were spent in Bloomsburg, playing high school football and wrestling for the local high school before returning to Pittsburgh to run FreeMarkets after his appointment to West Point led to combat service in the Gulf War.
The event held at Rock Bottom brewery marked the first time the duo have appeared together. Parnell said there was even a bit of humor in picking a place with a name that signifies where many people believe our country is right now.
The brewery was packed with supporters and potential supporters who drove from all parts of western Pennsylvania to hear why Parnell endorsed McCormick and to also see what McCormick was all about.
At one table near the stage where McCormick and Parnell spoke, two couples — the Navaras of Wexford and the McMasters of Monroeville — and Tina Fytern of South Park all sat together despite never meeting before. They all came from different parts of the region but shared one singular goal: finding out if McCormick had the right stuff to earn their vote.
Parnell said in an interview with the Washington Examiner that he feels obligated to the people in this state and the country to be part of this fight to win back the majority in the Senate. “Dave is a guy that I just think is the right man for the job, and I didn’t want to remain on the sidelines,” he said. “If someone really cares about their children, they want to make sure that they inherit a country that’s free and rich with opportunity for them. And I think the best way to do that is to take back the Senate and to provide a system of checks and balances on the Biden agenda.”
“In order to do that in a state like Pennsylvania, you have to back the right person in what’s become a little bit of a circus of a primary field,” he said of the crowded contest that includes celebrity Dr. Mehmet Oz, former Ambassador to Denmark Carla Sands, commentator Kathy Barnette, and real estate developer Jeff Bartos.
“Dave McCormick is a guy that’s born and raised in western Pennsylvania, went to West Point, is a combat veteran, is a Ranger, served in the 82nd Airborne, is a Princeton Ph.D., and ran a business in Pittsburgh with 600 employees,” he said, peeling off McCormick’s bio. “I mean, the only reason he left this state was to serve his country. To me, there’s no comparison between him and the other candidates; he’s imminently qualified to be the next United States senator for the commonwealth, and I just felt like I wanted to stay in the fight and back the guy who I believed in.”
Last month, Oz was the front-runner in the race in a poll conducted by the Trafalgar Group that showed him holding 27.4% of voters’ support, followed by McCormick with 15.9%, Sands with 14.8%, and Barnette and Bartos with single-digit support. At that point, more than 21% of those surveyed said they had not made up their mind.
On Tuesday, Oz told reporters at a press conference he would forgo certain security clearances provided to all senators to keep his dual citizenship with Turkey.
One month later, McCormick, having visited 35 counties and appeared in hundreds of towns large and small, has taken the lead. A Fox News survey of Pennsylvania GOP primary voters found that McCormick tops Oz by 9 points (24%-15%), followed by Barnette, Bartos, and Sands with single-digit support.
The survey also showed McCormick should take nothing for granted. Nearly one-third of those surveyed were unsure which candidate they would support in the May 17 primary.
McCormick said in an interview with the Washington Examiner that he is deeply appreciative of Parnell’s support. “When he pulled out of the Senate race, I reached out just a day or two after and said, ‘Listen, I don’t know you, but I know about your record of service in the military, and I know that none of us would like our family situations on the national television with small children,’ and I wished him the best.” Two weeks later, the two met. “We had a beer, and we got to know each other a bit, and I really came to like him and had a lot of respect for his service.”
The former hedge fund manager said in his bid to earn voters’ support across the state that it is clear that every voter he talked to loved Parnell.
“I am grateful that he offered his support, and I think that comes from a lot of the values we share; we’re both outsiders, happy warriors, and we share a common philosophy on everything from life to guns to immigration.”
The Cook Political Report has ranked Pennsylvania’s open Senate race as a toss-up for the general election race in November — it is considered by experts to be one of the most important races for both parties to secure in their individual paths to a majority. It is also projected to be one of the most expensive.
Pennsylvania’s primary election is set for May 17.
All of the Republican candidates for Senate and governor will converge in Pittsburgh on Thursday evening for the annual Allegheny County Republican Party Lincoln Day Dinner. Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton will be the keynote speaker.
“We are all fired up to vote in the primaries and in the general,” said Richard Navaro, a statement everyone in earshot at the rally agreed with.
Based on the large attendance at the Tuesday night event, he is probably not wrong.
Article courtesy of Real Clear Politics: https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2022/03/17/pennsylvania_republican_voters_are_fired_up_for_2022_565376.html
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