Dave McCormick is the Leader We Need
The first time I met Dave McCormick was at a picnic in Downingtown in 2022. He arrived with his wife, Dina, and they were dressed in campaign casual attire. After some handshakes and smiles, he worked his way over to the food set up on picnic tables. He quickly grabbed a burger, added ketchup, and ate it.
In short, he seemed like a regular guy. Not at all like the caricature that his opponents had been painting of him. Having myself been a candidate, a staffer, and a campaign advisor — and observer of people — that small act of normal behavior struck a chord. You can take the kid who was a Christmas tree-trimmer out of Bloomsburg, but you can’t take the Bloomsburg out of the man.
Dave McCormick is the first Republican to be elected a U.S. Senator in Pennsylvania by unseating an incumbent Democrat since 1994. You could see every part of his life’s experience in his campaign. Soldier. Businessman. Dad. And he has charted a path for the GOP for life beyond President-(re)elect Trump.
The data tell you that McCormick’s path to victory was as he planned. He would hope to get Trump-like numbers across rural communities and run ahead of Trump in suburban communities — knowing that Scranton would be tough for him facing “a Casey.” With that business plan in place, he set out.
Ever the soldier (having served in the first Gulf War), he followed his plan racing across our state in the now-famous bus. The man who was raised in Bloomsburg, wrestled in high school and at West Point, and ran meetings in boardrooms in Pennsylvania and around the globe, seemed at ease talking about business, what’s wrong with Washington, and other policy points.
Ever the executive, he sought out and consumed knowledge — looking to learn about manufacturers and family farms that grow crops, bring us milk, or are home to most of America’s mushrooms. I sat with him at countless school choice meetings as he talked to students, educators — and parents. Successful executives know what they want to accomplish and then talk to experts — wherever they find them.
Through 2024, he stuck to his message: things are bad, but there’s hope. The nation that survived a civil war, world wars, Vietnam, oil embargoes, depressions and recessions could rebound — if we changed course. He repeated his life story and his resume, talked of his family — and, then, the stark reality. Things in America are bad — and the folks that created our problems weren’t fixing them. Pennsylvania needed a leader, not someone just happy to be in the Senate.
It’s a challenge in a long campaign to stay on message and not get distracted. It’s a challenge not to get drawn into fire-fights every time you, your record, or your character are attacked — especially when about $400 million is spent attacking you. But a soldier stays on mission, knows what the plan is, and remains focused on the goal.
The once almost unknown businessman kept traveling in his bus. Talking. Listening. Asking questions. And explaining how he would help building tradesmen, mushroom farmers, or moms desperately seeking school choice for their children.
In the end, the numbers tell one story: he remained on Trump’s coattails through rural Pennsylvania — especially where he grew up. He did run ahead of Trump in the suburbs.
Independents and “soft Republicans” joined his coalition. He outperformed Trump in Chester, Delco, Montco & Philly—and almost caught him in the battleground county of Bucks.
He kept his loss in Casey’s home of Lackawanna County to single digit percentages — where a Casey has been running for office continuously since the 1970’s.
There’s more to the story — and a path forward. A path for him to succeed as a Senator, and as a party leader. He has the gravitas, work ethic, and humility to lead and fight for Pennsylvanians and our interests, hopes, and dreams.
He can build on his good will — staying in touch with folks from Bloomsburg, to his birth place in Washington County, to his family’s home near Pittsburgh. He can also be the leader and “face” of the party in the suburbs — the businessman, soldier, and dad.
And, he can take his message and passion for school choice to every community where parents are crying out for it — places he’s been, but not many Republicans go. He can go back to Kensington, Reading, Erie, Harrisburg, and Pittsburgh and talk with moms and dads, educators and those other civic-minded leaders (like him) who are committed to putting their time, treasure and talent into offering hope and optimism to those children.
The often-justified criticism of too many politicians is that they go to Congress to “do good,” but only “do well” — for themselves.
Dave and Dina McCormick have already done well for their family. McCormick ran to go to the Senate to make sure that Pennsylvanians do well — and that America is pulled back from the brink.
If he honors his pledge to himself and the voters, and if he remains the soldier executive dad — who puts ketchup on his burgers, he will be an asset in the Senate. He will be the leader of the GOP in Pennsylvania. And most importantly, students, farmers, and the men and women of Pennsylvania who build the things that America needs will do well.
Guy Ciarrocchi is a Senior Fellow with the Commonwealth Foundation. He writes for Broad + Liberty and RealClear Pennsylvania. Follow Guy at @PaSuburbsGuy.
