Who is Dave McCormick? Former hedge fund executive running for Senate in Pennsylvania

Orlando Mayorquin, USA TODAY
·3 min read
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A millionaire former hedge fund executive and George W. Bush administration official is running for Senate in the Pennsylvania Republican primary against Donald Trump-backed celebrity surgeon Mehmet Oz and conservative commentator Kathy Barnette.

Dave McCormick is running on the “America First” agenda and employs Trump-style rhetoric despite the former president’s backing of his opponent.

If McCormick becomes the Republican nominee he will take on the winner of a Democratic Senate primary that includes Pennsylvania  Lt. Gov. John Fetterman and Pennsylvania Congressman Conor Lamb.

PA primary updates: Oz, McCormick could face Pennsylvania recount

U.S. Senate Republican candidate Dave McCormick made a campaign stop at Heisey's Diner outside of Lebanon city Wednesday morning to meet with more than a dozen county residents. The candidate took questions on rising gas prices, Russia's invasion on Ukraine, separation of powers, immigration, and critical race theory. McCormick said he feels the country in going in the wrong direction, saying that in the next couple years it needs to make a major course correction. "It matters who you choose," he said to those in attendance. "I'm not saying that one senator from Pennsylvania is going to change the course of history...It takes a couple people in the right positions to change the course of history, and that's why this senate seat is so important."

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Who is Dave McCormick?

McCormick was a longtime executive at Bridgewater Associates, which is considered the world’s largest hedge fund. He had worked there since 2009, before leaving to pursue the vacant Senate seat left by outgoing Republican Sen. Pat Toomey.

According to his Senate Financial Disclosure report, McCormick bagged a nearly $22.5 million salary in his final year at the firm.

McCormick served in various roles in the Bush administration, according to White House archives, including as the Under Secretary for International Affairs in the Department of Treasury in the last two years of Bush's second term.

Prior to his roles at the White House, McCormick headed two technology companies after a stint at consulting firm Mckinsey and Company, according to his LinkedIn. 

The self-described “battle-tested fighter” graduated from West Point and served in the Persian Gulf War in 1991 as a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division.

He is married to Dina Powell, a Goldman Sachs executive who served as a national security adviser in the Trump administration. 

How old is Dave McCormick?

McCormick is 56 years old. He was born in Pittsburgh and grew up in a small town called Bloomsburg in Eastern Pennsylvania, according to his campaign website. 

What is McCormick’s policy platform?

Like many midterm GOP candidates, McCormick is running on the “America First” platform and advocating for policies started under Trump.

He appeals to his business background in his economic plan, which, according to his campaign site, includes cutting taxes for the working-class and restoring manufacturing jobs. McCormick blames “Joe Biden and the extreme left,” for record inflation.

His platform includes a suite of proposals to “combat China’s growing economic and military influence,” increase domestic fossil fuel energy production, finish Trump’s southern border wall and implement voter ID laws. He also calls for congressional term limits, which both Democratic and GOP candidates have advocated for this election cycle.

Who has endorsed Dave McCormick?

Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and former Trump Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are some of McCormick’s top endorsers. Pompeo held a press conference on behalf of the campaign, expressing “national security concerns” over Oz’s participation in a recent Turkish election.

Other endorsements include former Republican presidential candidates Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pennsylvania Senate race: What to know about Dave McCormick