What Senate candidates Bob Casey and Dave McCormick said about the filibuster, abortion, and Puerto Rico in their second debate

The second and final debate of Pennsylvania’s nationally watched U.S. Senate race in many ways felt like a rerun of the fiery first showdown between Democratic incumbent Bob Casey and his GOP challenger Dave McCormick, with the candidates taking nearly every opportunity to advance their favored attack lines against each other.

Casey repeatedly criticized McCormick for his years living in Connecticut and working as an executive of Bridgewater Associates, a hedge fund that has invested heavily in China. McCormick, meanwhile, cast Casey as a “status quo candidate” and a “weak” career politician.

» READ MORE: Takeaways from the first debate between Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey and GOP challenger Dave McCormick

But the candidates also answered questions on a number of important policy issues at Tuesday’s debate, which was hosted by Philadelphia’s 6ABC. Here’s where Casey and McCormick said they stand on some of the top issues they will face if they win.

Philadelphia has one of the largest Puerto Rican communities in the continental U.S., and many residents here follow political developments on the island.

The candidates took opposite sides when asked if Puerto Rico should be granted statehood in the event that its residents vote in favor of it.

“If the people of Puerto Rico make that determination, I think we should be open to entertaining it,” Casey said.

McCormick said, “I would not vote in favor of it being the 51st state.”

Another clear divide here.

McCormick said he wants to preserve the filibuster — the rule that prevents most legislation from passing if it does not have the support of 60 of the 100 members of the Senate — as a means to prevent the “extremes” of either party from driving the agenda in Washington.

“I believe that filibuster is a way to check the majority of either party,” McCormick said. “Sen. Casey wants to eliminate that. It’s going to change the balance of power forever.”

Casey said he wants to get rid of the rule because it prevents important bills from being passed.

“If we change that rule, we could pass the [gun sales] background checks bill,” he said. “If we change that rule, we could pass the Women’s Health Protection Act.”

Both candidates said they support an “all of the above” approach to energy policy, including boosting Pennsylvania’s natural gas industry.

Despite natural gas being a fossil fuel that contributes to global warming, McCormick said the U.S. should increase exports as part of a strategy to fight climate change, suggesting it emits comparatively less carbon into the atmosphere than the coal-fueled plants that form the backbone of China and India’s energy sectors.

“It’s key to economic growth, it’s key to national security, and it’s key to climate change,” he said.

But McCormick also criticized Casey over his support for President Joe Biden’s infrastructure law, which included subsidies for renewable energy sources like wind and solar that the Republican said makes the U.S. more reliant on Chinese technologies needed to develop those projects.

Casey noted that those subsidies and other aspects of the infrastructure law are also creating jobs in Pennsylvania, and he attacked McCormick for Bridgewater’s investments in Chinese and Saudi Arabian oil companies.

Abortion rights have been an extensively litigated issue in the Senate race, in part because both candidates’ stances have evolved over time, and they reiterated the 2024 current versions of their positions Tuesday.

McCormick said he wants to leave it to the states to decide how to regulate abortion, which has been the case since the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 overturned Roe v. Wade.

When McCormick first ran for the Senate in 2022, he appeared to support a ban on abortion in all cases except when the life of the mother is threatened. He now says he supports three exceptions, also including cases involving rape or incest.

After years of being known as one of the most prominent “pro-life Democrats” in Washington, Casey in 2022 backed the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would guarantee abortion rights across the country. His change was prompted by the high court’s decision, he reiterated Tuesday.

“We had a very clear choice at that moment, whether you’re a citizen or a member of the United States Senate,” he said. “Do you want those rights restored or not? ... That was the choice before the country, and I voted in that moment to restore those rights.”

Casey first ran for the Senate as a staunch opponent of new measures to restrict gun rights. But after the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012, he said he supported “common sense” reforms including an assault rifle ban and a national background check system for gun sales.

“The gun lobby has a stranglehold on one party,” Casey said Tuesday. “That old false choice of protecting people or having common sense gun laws I don’t think holds much water.”

McCormick said he supports increased investment in addressing mental health issues that factor into mass shootings and boosting security in schools and synagogues. But he did not express support for any strengthened gun control regulations.

“The problem that you’re trying to solve is not going to be solved by restricting legal gun ownership,” McCormick said.