GOP Senate candidate Dave McCormick campaigned outside a cheesesteak shop in North Philly. It didn’t go smoothly.
The manager of Max's Steaks said McCormick was "not welcome back," and a pastor at a nearby church said he would not accept a donation from the GOP candidate.
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick on Friday afternoon made a campaign stop outside Max’s Steaks in North Philadelphia, the latest in a series of GOP events aimed at reaching out to Black voters in Philly this year.
But McCormick’s campaign apparently didn’t do enough outreach to Max’s.
Mike Sfida, manager at Max’s, said he was told the event was for autism awareness and was surprised to see campaign signs for McCormick and former President Donald Trump being hung up outside the restaurant. Sfida said he welcomed the event because his niece and nephew have autism, “not a political campaign.”
“We didn’t sign up for that at all. Zero,” Sfida said as the McCormick team was wrapping up the event. “I could throw them all out of here, but I’m going to be nice. Do your thing. When you’re done, leave. You’re not welcome back.”
Earlier, McCormick, who is running against Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, spoke briefly to a crowd of several dozen people on the sidewalk outside Max’s before handing out cheesesteaks. His campaign bus was parked on Erie Avenue, attracting passersby who were curious about the commotion or who had heard someone was giving out free sandwiches.
“I am running to represent all Pennsylvanians — Democrats, Republicans, independents, Black and white, Jewish, Christian, Muslim,” McCormick told the crowd. “I’m running to bring leadership to our commonwealth.”
Later, supporters posted enthusiastic videos highlighting the Republican’s swing through North Philly.
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The confusion over the purpose of the event stemmed from the fact that it was organized in part by Sheila Armstrong, a Philadelphia activist of various causes who has run for City Council as a Democrat but is now a Republican. Sfida said Armstrong reached out to him to schedule the event on behalf of her nonprofit organization, Cooking4Autism, and not on behalf of McCormick’s campaign.
Armstrong, who has been a member of the controversial conservative group Moms for Liberty, appears to have no official affiliation with McCormick, but said she has offered to be a liaison for the Republican in the city. During Pennsylvania’s 2022 Senate race, Armstrong was at the center of a minor controversy when it was revealed that the campaign of Republican Mehmet Oz — who defeated McCormick in that year’s GOP primary before losing to U.S. Sen. John Fetterman (D., Pa.) — failed to disclose that she was a paid campaign staffer after featuring her as a speaker at a community roundtable in Philadelphia.
She said Friday that the Max’s event was intended to raise awareness about autism and that she also told Max’s that she had “political clients.”
“What I organized this for is because we always hear the politicians saying that they support the Black community, but we never see them. So I always push them and challenge them to come into my Black community,” she said. “Dave McCormick took that challenge.”
Asked if there was an autism awareness aspect of the event, Armstrong said, “Yes, it’s always autism awareness because I’m an education advocate,” adding that she addressed the crowd about autism at one point.
However, there was little visible indication the event had anything to do with autism awareness. While there were Republican campaign signs and McCormick campaign pamphlets on a table, there were no resources about autism.
The campaign described the event to reporters as a “meet & greet with members of the African American community.”
”We were so heartened by the warm welcome of dozens of Philadelphians for delicious cheesesteaks from Max’s,” McCormick campaign spokesperson Elizabeth Gregory said in a statement Friday. “We will continue to work hard to earn the votes of Pennsylvanians all over the commonwealth. We certainly apologize for any confusion.”
Melvin “Prince” Johnakin, a Philadelphia Republican ward leader who has run for Congress, attended the event and said he was aware of its dual purpose as promoting McCormick’s campaign and raising autism awareness. Johnakin said McCormick was wise to campaign in North Philadelphia because the GOP message on the economy is resonating with Black voters this year.
“There’s strength out here,” Johnakin said. “When the cost of living goes up and the economics of the household don’t go up, you create anarchy.”
After posing for pictures with guests outside Max’s — including with Sfida — McCormick walked across the street to East Bethel Baptist Church, which was holding a fundraiser for its food ministry outside the church.
But the impromptu stop didn’t go smoothly, either. The Rev. Thomas Edwards Jr. said he asked McCormick and his entourage to leave because he didn’t want photos of his church’s members to be used by the campaign.
“You can Photoshop. You can make things seem like they aren’t. Maybe they’re going to post we’re eating dogs or eating cats, like in Ohio,” Edwards said, referring to Trump’s false claims about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio. “Forgive me if I’m wrong. I don’t trust these people.”
Edwards said that he doesn’t tell members of his congregation who to vote for, but that he personally has problems with Republicans, especially during the Trump era.
Despite the hiccups, McCormick may have accomplished what he set out to do in North Philly: make himself visible in a community where people might not have otherwise considered his candidacy.
Khalif Lambert, 32, lives nearby and stopped to see why a crowd had gathered. Lambert is a registered Democrat but said he was open to voting for Republicans this year and wanted to do more research about both parties. He posed for a photo with McCormick after the event.
“I’ll look into him now that I see him in person,” Lambert said.