A billionaire-backed super PAC is pouring millions into Dave McCormick’s campaign to beat Bob Casey

A super PAC supporting Republican Dave McCormick’s bid for the Senate raised $18 million in just four months, an astounding sum that comes from just 34 donations from some of the wealthiest people in the country.

The donors include Ken Griffin, the CEO of the hedge fund Citadel, who gave $10 million to the group, and Pennsylvania school choice advocate Jeffrey Yass who gave $1 million. The haul is more than incumbent Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and McCormick’s campaigns brought in combined during a slightly shorter three-month period.

There’s a long way to go in the hotly contested race that could help determine control of the U.S. Senate, and both McCormick and Casey are expected to get considerable financial support — Pennsylvania’s 2022 Senate race was among the most expensive in the country. But the PAC’s eyebrow-raising starting number released in financial reports this week signals that McCormick, who is independently wealthy, will have more than enough help re-introducing himself to voters as he seeks to unseat Casey, a three-term Democrat.

The money also puts pressure on outside Democratic groups to offset the financial infusion.

“These numbers are proof of the growing support and momentum for Dave McCormick to take on career politician Bob Casey and win in November,” Keystone Renewal PAC spokesperson Noah Evans said. “... We have built out a robust operation to help carry Dave McCormick to victory.”

The PAC, Keystone Renewal, received just 34 donations from September through December but all large sums — most of them more than $100,000. The group spent very little, likely holding out for when the race heats up.

A total of about $312 million was poured into Pennsylvania’s 2022 Senate race between Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Mehmet Oz through campaign and outside group spending. Including the primary, the race hit $374 million. Fetterman’s victory helped give Democrats narrow control of the chamber. This year, it’s up for grabs again.

A Franklin and Marshall College poll released Thursday had Casey leading McCormick, 47% to 35%, for a larger margin than when the college polled in October.

McCormick’s and Casey’s campaigns are fundraising at relatively similar rates but Casey, who has had the benefit of fundraising over the years as a sitting senator, has more in his campaign account.

McCormick’s campaign raised $5.4 million in his first quarter as a 2024 candidate, campaign finance reports show. He also contributed $1 million more of his own money. The campaign closed the year with about $4.1 million cash on hand — less than half of the cash Casey reported.

For McCormick, challenging an incumbent requires money to get his name and message out to voters. He has the benefit of having run in the Republican Senate primary in 2022. He’s also got the full backing of GOP leaders in the state and no serious primary challengers, meaning he can focus early on the general election.

McCormick hasn’t been shy about the amount of fundraising he’s doing, telling a group at Dartmouth last month that he spends half his time with donors.

Donors to the McCormick campaign included members of former President Donald Trump’s cabinet, including former secretary of education Betsey DeVos and former White House director of communications Anthony Scaramucci. McCormick’s wife, Dina Powell, was deputy national security adviser for Trump’s administration.

McCormick also received contributions from PACs for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey, Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California, and Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

Casey’s campaign raised more than $3.6 million in the fourth quarter through contributions and transfers.

Among itemized donations, Casey leads with Pennsylvanians. Forty percent of Casey’s donations over $200 came from Pennsylvania residents, whereas only 24% of McCormick’s donors reported living in the state.

That’s similar to the last race in which 37% of Fetterman’s donations came from in-state and 27% of Oz’s did.

Casey, who announced his reelection campaign in April, had a five-month jump start on McCormick’s September campaign launch. Casey raised $3.2 million in the third quarter and $4 million in the second. Combined with money remaining in his campaign account, he reported ending the year with $9.4 million.

For Casey, the son of a governor, who has represented the state since 2007, name recognition won’t be the issue so much as convincing voters he should stay in the seat while President Joe Biden, his Democratic ally at the top of the ticket, faces strong headwinds.

Casey has already criticized McCormick for being backed by out-of-state billionaires.

“He’s already got an $18 million super PAC funded by a group a small group of billionaires,” Casey said to a crowd of labor leaders last week. “And you know what he’s gonna do when he’s in the United States Senate if we let them win? He’s gonna go to the Senate and defend those tax breaks for those billionaires.”

McCormick spokesperson Elizabeth McGregory responded that “Dave is honored to have donations from all 67 counties in Pennsylvania. ... Both candidates will get support from all over, but Bob Casey will no doubt be the candidate supported by Washington.”

Casey donors who maxed out at $6,600 for the primary and general elections include Arthur Rooney, the founding owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers; Ken Weinstein, a Philadelphia developer; Melinda French Gates, the ex-wife of Microsoft founder Bill Gates; and Jen Allen Soros and Jonathan Soros, children of Democratic donor George Soros.

Casey has also gotten some fundraising help from fellow Pennsylvania Democrats, including Sen. John Fetterman and Gov. Josh Shapiro. Fetterman’s team sends frequent email blasts to a large grassroots donor base.

“Bob is up against a self-funding mega-millionaire from Connecticut named David McCormick (remember him?) who’s already cut his own campaign a $1 million check,” a recent Fetterman solicitation read.

The super PAC supporting McCormick got donations from big GOP donors and hedge fund CEOs.

Griffin, the PAC’s largest donor so far, is a Chicago-based Republican and was the largest individual donor to GOP super PACs nationwide in 2021. He’s also, on occasion, given to Democrats. He donated to Joe Biden’s inaugural fund and endorsed former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

Griffin backed McCormick in his 2022 run, giving $5 million to the super PAC that backed him. In total, that PAC spent $22 million during McCormick’s primary run.

Several known hedge fund CEOs also donated to the PAC supporting McCormick’s current run, including Elliott Management’s Paul Singer, who gave $2 million. Several people contributed half a million, including: Blackstone’s Steve Schwarzman; Moore Capital Management’s Louis Bacon; Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick; and Ken Langhorne, a billionaire businessman best known for organizing financing for the founders of Home Depot.

McCormick’s brother, Doug McCormick, who co-founded HCI Equity Partners, gave $86,000 to the PAC.

Of the 34 donors to the Keystone Renewal, only one, Yass, lists an address in Pennsylvania.

Staff writer Aseem Shukla contributed to this article.