Bucks County will determine control of the Senate and House, Josh Shapiro says in stumping for Bob Casey

Gov. Josh Shapiro campaigned for U.S. Sen. Bob Casey in Lower Bucks County on Monday, telling supporters gathered at Neshaminy Brewing in Croydon that Casey “understands what you’re dealing with in your community.”

“The senator is always there for us to deliver a check, to make sure key legislation passes that helps Pennsylvanians, like capping insulin at 35 bucks for our seniors,” Shapiro said. “When you think about authenticity, when you think about someone who’s like us, who shares our values, who gives a damn about us, who can go to those halls of power and not forget where he came from, that is Bob Casey.”

Casey, a third-term Democrat, is locked in a tough reelection fight against Republican Dave McCormick. Although Casey has led in the polls throughout the race, he has said he expects it to be a tight race by the time Election Day arrives on Nov. 5.

Casey on Monday largely stuck to his usual stump speech, saying in part that McCormick would vote with the GOP caucus against bills to expand abortion rights, improve voting access, and strengthen labor unions.

“On all those issues, I’m on one side. My opponent’s on the other,” Casey said. “He will never vote for any of those bills to protect voting rights, women’s rights, and workers’ rights.”

McCormick campaign spokesperson Elizabeth Gregory in turn sought to tie Casey to leaders of his party.

“Bob Casey is a weak liberal career politician whose support for [President Joe] Biden and [Vice President Kamala] Harris’ radical agenda has driven record high cost of living as they seek to ban fracking, open borders as thousands of Pennsylvanians die of fentanyl overdose, and enable violent crime by undermining and underfunding law enforcement,” Gregory said in a statement.

Gregory was referring to Harris in 2019 saying she supported banning fracking. Casey opposes fracking bans, and Harris has since changed her position.

Both Shapiro and Casey spoke at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago last week, but they had very different missions. Casey made his case for reelection and repeated his signature “greedflation” platform of investigating large corporations that rapidly raise prices for consumers despite high profit margins.

Shapiro, who is not on the ballot this year and was recently a finalist to be Harris’ running mate, used his prime-time slot to talk about the need to protect “real freedoms” — a signature slogan for the governor, who is widely expected to run for the White House himself one day — by electing Democrats this year.

With a mix of blue-collar towns in the south, rural areas in the north, and bedroom communities in between, Bucks County is well known for being a microcosm of the country and a bellwether in national elections. This year it could play a pivotal role in the presidential race, the Senate race, and the U.S. House race between Republican incumbent Brian Fitzpatrick and Democratic challenger Ashley Ehasz.

“It’s not only the swingiest of all swing counties in the swingiest of all swing states — I mean that only in the political sense — but it’s also the county that is going to determine who is in the leadership of the U.S. House and U.S. Senate,” Shapiro said.

Shapiro said he was eager to help Casey, who endorsed him during the Democratic primary for the 2016 attorney general’s race. Shapiro’s victory was a key step in his rise from Montgomery County official to nationally known figure.

“Sen. Casey put his neck out on the line for me when I was starting out in my political career, when very few people gave me a shot,” Shapiro said. “He was always there for me. I’m always going to be there for him.”