Philly's firefighters union backs Bob Casey's rival in Senate race

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The firefighters' union representing Pennsylvania’s largest city endorsed Republican businessman David McCormick in the hotly contested U.S. Senate race Thursday.

The president of IAFF Local 22, the union representing more than 4,500 firefighters and first responders in Philadelphia, said this election cycle was the first time they’d met with Sen. Bob Casey, Jr. over his 12 years in office.

"Dave McCormick possesses all the qualities that will catapult us forward," union president Mike Bresnan said at a press conference announcing the endorsement.

"We are confident that Dave McCormick will show up when we need him. He is unequivocally the right choice for senator at this pivotal moment in our country’s history."

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Dave McCormick, Pennsylvania Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, speaks during Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump's campaign rally at Riverfront Sports on Oct. 9, 2024 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. 

Speaking at the Northern Liberties-based union hall, McCormick said that first responders see first-hand how parts of Philadelphia and the country at-large are struggling and facing the repercussions of lax criminal justice policies.

"We’re here today to talk about exactly why these folks are voting for change, as opposed to the status quo," he said.

"We have urban decay, skyrocketing murder rates. They're making sections of this incredible city a terrifying place to raise children," he said, as he stood only a mile or so from Kensington, the North Philadelphia neighborhood often dubbed "America’s largest open-air drug market."

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He pointed to "Soros-funded prosecutors" in terms of progressive law enforcement policies, naming Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, a Democrat, as one who has "undermined the rule of law" in his work.

"[Casey] has essentially supported policies that have made the jobs of these [firefighters and first responders] a lot tougher. He supports liberal prosecutors like Larry Krasner. He refuses to stand up for a tough order and tough border policies and voted against a total of $800 million in funds for opioid and narcotic detection in the Senate."

McCormick added that Casey also voted against Kate’s Law, a bill that would mandate minimum imprisonment for illegal immigrant felons, after a young woman was murdered by a Mexican national several years ago on a San Francisco pier.

The Republican nodded to the fact that the IAFF’s local in Philadelphia endorsed Casey in his re-election bid against former Hazleton mayor and U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, R-Pa., in 2018, appearing to suggest that the nod his way this year was groundbreaking.

McCormick concluded by criticizing Casey and others over the closure of the PYREX manufacturing plant in Charleroi, Washington County, Pa., where the company is based.

"He ignored the union workers there for weeks. He only spoke to them after he heard that I was standing with them in solidarity."

Adding to the endorsement, Bresnan said Thursday that McCormick "is unequivocally the right choice for senator at this pivotal moment in our country’s history."

A Casey campaign spokesperson said the senator enjoys support from law enforcement and firefighter groups.

"Senator Casey has a long and clear record of working alongside law enforcement and first responders and delivering hundreds of millions of dollars to support them – that's why he has the backing of current and retired law enforcement and the Pennsylvania Professional Fire Fighters Association," said Kate Smart. "While Senator Casey is working hard to keep Pennsylvanians safe, his opponent screwed over the pension funds of firefighters and police while charging them outrageous fees, contributing to cuts to their benefits."

Still, Philadelphia, both the largest and bluest city in Pennsylvania, has received more attention from statewide Republicans in recent races.

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Bob Casey and Dave McCormick are tied in Pennsylvania, according to a new poll. (AP/Reuters)

In 2022, Dr. Mehmet Oz visited Kensington to treat the drug addicts in the infamous neighborhood. Former President Donald Trump also stopped just outside the city limits in Trevose recently for his widely-covered "shift" at the local McDonald's’ drive-thru.

Trump had held an event in Center City earlier in the campaign cycle to celebrate the release of new, branded footwear he was hawking.

The former president’s 2016 win was bolstered by votes in Philadelphia’s once-reliably moderate-Republican western and northern suburbs – an area that became disaffected with the right in 2020 in supporting Joe Biden and in 2022 in helping to elect Gov. Josh Shapiro.