Connecticut Man Pulls a Dr. Oz, Launches Bid for Pennsylvania Senate Seat

David McCormick, a former hedge fund CEO and current resident of Connecticut, announced Thursday that he’s running to be the Republican Senate nominee in … Pennsylvania. And if an out-of-state resident seeking the GOP nomination in Pennsylvania sounds vaguely familiar to you, that’s because celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz tried the same thing last year and lost to Sen. John Fetterman (D) in humiliating fashion.

McCormick also ran in the GOP primary in 2022, but lost to the Trump-endorsed Oz by just 951 votes. Republican strategists have lamented ever since that McCormick could have beat Fetterman in the general election. (Donald Trump reportedly asked if it was a mistake to endorse Oz over McCormick.) But one of Oz’s major liabilities on the campaign trail was that he was an out-of-touch multi-millionaire carpetbagger who opposes abortion—and McCormick brings all that same baggage to the table.

The former CEO was raised in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, but later moved to Connecticut, with his family. (His wife is Dina Powell, a former Goldman Sachs executive and former Trump administration official.) Then, in late 2021, a few months before announcing his first Senate run, McCormick bought a house in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. But he doesn’t actually live there—he lives in Westport, Connecticut, where his daughters go to a $53,000-a-year private school.

Here’s what the Associated Press said about his gaudy digs:

While McCormick does own a home in Pittsburgh, a review of public records, real estate listings and footage from recent interviews indicates he still lives on Connecticut’s “Gold Coast,” one of the densest concentrations of wealth in America. The former hedge fund CEO rents a $16 million mansion in Westport that features a 1,500-bottle wine cellar, an elevator and a “private waterfront resort” overlooking Long Island Sound….[the mansion] also boasts a spa, pool and heated pavilion.”

Then there’s this devastating sentence: “He voted in a Pennsylvania election for the first time in 16 years during the 2022 Republican primary, when he was on the ballot, voting records show.”

Meanwhile, Vanity Fair reported that when McCormick does go to Pennsylvania, he travels via private jet. In one instance, he flew back to Connecticut the same day.

Just like Oz before him, people are already swarming McCormick’s Twitter replies to drag him for living in another state.

When it comes to abortion, a spokesperson for McCormick left the door wide open to give him leeway to vote for a national abortion ban. “Dave’s position has been consistent since day one: He is pro-life and supports exceptions in the cases of rape, incest, and saving the life of the mother,” Elizabeth Gregory told a Pennsylvania news station. In May 2022, McCormick told Fox News host Laura Ingraham that overturning Roe v. Wade “would be a huge step forward and a huge victory.”

McCormick will be aiming to unseat three-term incumbent Sen. Bob Casey (D). Casey hasn’t been great on abortion in the past, but he surprised people by saying he’d vote to codify Roe after a leaked opinion in spring 2022 revealed that the Supreme Court was about to overturn the ruling.

Meanwhile, Fetterman was ready with a signature burn after McCormick’s announcement:

Dave, we hope you enjoy getting your ass handed to you for the next year.