“I think I can take a bear… If I could get a bear right pre-hibernation or post-hiberation and I hadn’t eaten much and he hadn’t eaten much or he had eaten much, I’m long on McCormick.”

— Pennsylvania Senate candidate David McCormick (R), talking to the Ruthless Podcast about the biggest animal that he could fight.

A new Quinnipiac poll in Pennsylvania finds Sen. Bob Casey (D) leading challenger David McCormick (R) in the U.S. Senate race, 50% to 44%.

Politico: “Control of the Senate could depend on McCormick’s ability to cast himself as a homegrown Army veteran. It’s an authenticity attack that he also faced in his 2022 run and that Democrats successfully weaponized against the ultimate Republican nominee, Mehmet Oz. Now it’s beginning anew as questions swirl about how much time McCormick spends on Connecticut’s Gold Coast as a wealthy financier.”

“Left largely unmentioned in his 15-minute announcement speech: His decades-long career on Wall Street, where he eventually served as CEO of one of the world’s most successful hedge funds. Still, McCormick’s personal wealth is not without upsides. National Republicans viewed their ability to convince McCormick to run as a coup, in part because resources alone will ensure that Democrats have to spend in the state to protect incumbent Sen. Bob Casey.”

“Through the marvel that is modern air travel, a candidate for public office is no longer confined to living in the state they hope to serve in,” Vanity Fair reports.

“This relatively new phenomenon appears to be a godsend for David McCormick, a Republican who reportedly now lives in a Connecticut mansion but is poised to run for US Senate in Pennsylvania, where he appears to have chartered a number of private planes to promote his political bid.”

“David McCormick, a former hedge fund executive who lost the Republican primary for Pennsylvania’s open Senate seat last year, will announce on Thursday that he is running again for Senate — this time against three-time incumbent Democratic Senator Bob Casey Jr.,” Reuters reports.

“When David McCormick ran for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania last year, he faced a half-dozen Republican primary opponents and withering criticism from former President Donald Trump. He lost before he could get to a general election,” the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

“But as the former hedge fund CEO prepares to try again, more Republicans are on his side. When he launches his 2024 Senate campaign on Thursday, he’ll start as the only GOP candidate in the race.”

David McCormick (R) “is expected to announce his second bid for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, taking on Democratic Sen. Bob Casey after narrowly losing an expensive and bruising GOP primary last year to a Donald Trump-endorsed rival,” the AP reports.

“McCormick, 58, has strong support from the party establishment. With his deep pockets as a former hedge fund CEO, Republicans believe he will mount a strong challenge to the three-term Casey in a state that is critical to control of the White House and the Senate.”

Associated Press: “Republicans, perhaps, have done just about everything they can think of to entice McCormick to join a 2024 ticket that might feature a rematch of Donald Trump and President Joe Biden in a premier battleground state that is critical both to control of the White House and the Senate.”

“If McCormick is circumspect, maybe it’s because the former hedge fund CEO spent a small fortune of his own money just to lose narrowly in a crowded and bruising primary election.”

Associated Press: “As Republicans aim to gain the one seat they need to retake the Senate in next year’s elections, McCormick is a top recruit. And before his anticipated campaign, he’s working to avoid Oz’s fate, frequently noting his upbringing in Pennsylvania, his ownership of a home in Pittsburgh and a family farm near Bloomsburg.”

“But the reality is more complex. 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 trappings of a wealthy enclave, well outside Pennsylvania, offer a jarring contrast with the political identity McCormick has sought to cultivate, which emphasizes his upbringing buck hunting, his Army service and his desire to serve his home state.”

“David McCormick is not in a rush,” the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

“The former hedge fund manager who lost a bruising and close GOP Senate primary campaign last year is widely expected to run again, this time for the chance to take on Democrat Bob Casey.”

“But nearly six months since he started making plans, nothing’s been made official yet.”

“Several Republican sources who know McCormick say he’s eyeing a potential fall entrance but is being cautious about the decision, coming off the primary loss to Mehmet Oz last year. He’s wary of what’s expected to be a tough run against Casey, a well-known incumbent, sources said, as well as how the outcome of the presidential GOP primary could impact Pennsylvania’s Senate race.”

“So, that was a low point.”

— Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), quoted by The Messenger, remembering when the Philadelphia Inquirer compared him to oatmeal.

MAGA firebrand Doug Mastriano (R) said on Thursday that he is not running for Senate in Pennsylvania in 2024, Politico reports.

Pennsylvania State Sen. Doug Mastriano (R) plans to make an announcement next week about the decision he has made on whether he will run for U.S. Senate, in what he teased as “crazy good news,” the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

“MAGA firebrand Doug Mastriano is inducing panic among GOP officials as he inches closer toward a 2024 bid for the Senate after a disastrous showing in his Pennsylvania governor run in 2022,” Politico reports.

“Among the concerned is none other than Donald Trump.”

“The former president has privately told Republicans he fears that Mastriano, a far-right state lawmaker in a critical battleground, would hurt him in a general election if they were on the top of the ticket together next year, according to three people familiar with the conversations.”

A new Franklin & Marshall poll in Pennsylvania finds Sen. Bob Casey (D) leading potential challenger Dave McCormick (R), 42% to 35%.

In a match up against Doug Mastriano (R), Casey leads 47% to 31%.

Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) “will seek a fourth term in office, bringing the power of incumbency and unmatched name recognition in Pennsylvania politics to his party’s defense of a seat in a critical presidential battleground state,” the AP reports.

“Former hedge fund CEO and 2022 Pennsylvania GOP Senate candidate Dave McCormick continues to signal he’s seriously considering another Senate run in 2024, this time against three-term Democratic Sen. Bob Casey,” The Dispatch reports.

“McCormick has spent recent weeks glad-handing with influential Republicans in Washington, D.C., sitting for interviews to promote his new book, and launching a new political action committee aimed at helping the Pennsylvania GOP close Democrats’ mail-in voting gap and boosting Republican candidates for state office.”

Failed Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano (R) told Politico he’s considering challenging Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) in 2024.