In the Pennsylvania Senate race, Bob Casey and Dave McCormick tie the knot with the frontrunners

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and Republican Dave McCormick have sought to strike a balance with the top group in Pennsylvania, a state that will play a key role in determining control of the White House and Senate.

The two Senate candidates have regularly appeared at rallies with Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump in the state and have eagerly highlighted policies they agree on. But they have also identified areas of disagreement with their party’s presidential candidates in a bid to demonstrate independence – and fend off attacks from their opponent – in the closely divided state.

It’s a dynamic that will likely be on display Thursday night when Casey and McCormick meet for their first debate less than five weeks before Election Day.

Unlike the Democratic Senate candidates in the key states of Ohio, Montana and Arizona, Casey has worked closely on the campaign trail with Harris, who is seeking a fourth term. He accompanied them at campaign events across the state and openly supported their policy proposals, such as eliminating the 60-vote threshold needed to pass most legislation in the Senate.

Still, Casey, the son of a former two-term Pennsylvania governor who has comfortably won his last three races, expressed confidence that he could outperform Harris this fall even as the ticket split has declined.

“I think when it comes to the decision a voter has to make, they’re going to make a different decision depending on the office,” Casey told NBC News in an interview outside Pittsburgh on Sunday.

“You will make a decision in the presidential campaign, weighing a number of considerations. They will also make a decision in my race that specifically relates to the election of their next senator,” he continued.

Casey still needs to win over people like Seth Klein, a sophomore at the University of Pittsburgh. The primary voter plans to support Harris but is determined to stick with the Democratic Party as the vote continues.

“I’m registered independent so I don’t necessarily lean one way or the other. “In my mind, I’m just going to vote for whoever is the better candidate,” Klein said.

Meanwhile, McCormick, a former hedge fund CEO and combat veteran, won Trump’s support this cycle after losing the 2022 Republican Senate primary in Pennsylvania. Trump, who supported prominent doctor Mehmet Oz in that race, had called McCormick a “liberal Wall Street Republican.”

Now McCormick has tried to tie himself to Trump, who won Pennsylvania in 2016 and lost in 2020. He was a regular speaker at the former president’s rallies, including last weekend in Erie, but also emphasized their limited policy differences.

“I had a story where if I disagreed with President Trump, I said it,” McCormick said. “He’s said some things recently where he’s in favor of lifting the ban and cap on SALT, which is essentially what he’s doing,” giving tax breaks to millionaire homeowners in California, New York at the expense of Pennsylvania taxpayers. I wouldn’t accept that as a role model.”

Trump “said some things about Ukraine. “I think we should provide military assistance to Ukraine,” McCormick said. Pennsylvania is home to the country’s second-largest population of Ukrainian Americans.

“I also believe that President Trump is right and that France and Germany should pay their fair share,” he added.

Asked whether as a senator he would vote for Trump’s proposed 60% tariff on imported goods from China, McCormick said he “strategically” supports the use of tariffs but would not commit to Trump’s specific plan.

“I’m not going to go into the details,” McCormick said, adding that he was “not sure” what Trump meant by his latest plan. “I specifically support the use of tariffs to make sure we get a fair deal, and that’s exactly what President Trump has done so far, and I support him in doing that.”

McCormick is also expected to attend Trump’s Butler rally on Saturday. This is the Republican presidential candidate’s first return to the area since he was assassinated in July. McCormick has encouraged both Republicans and Democrats not to “resort to dehumanizing rhetoric,” but told NBC News that he has not spoken directly to Trump about it.

“I’m not giving the former president any advice,” McCormick said, adding that Republicans are keen to “focus on the battle of ideas” rather than personal attacks. (At his weekend rally in Erie, Trump called Harris “mentally impaired.”)

“I have to run a campaign that I think best represents who I am and what kind of senator I will be, and I can only manage myself,” McCormick said.

McCormick has also tried to portray Casey’s stance on Harris on issues such as immigration, inflation and energy as negative.

While Harris now says she has no intention of banning fracking, a key technology that has transformed the energy economy in rural parts of Pennsylvania, this represents an about-face from her position as a senator and presidential candidate in 2019.

“As a public official, I supported natural gas development, and when there was an attempt in the United States Congress to ban it, I opposed it, and I will oppose it again,” Casey said.

McCormick addressed coal workers at the Gilberton power plant in Frackville on Monday, calling it “the height of hypocrisy for an election year, 50 days after the election, that they are suddenly pro-natural gas and pro-fossil fuels.” I don’t think Pennsylvanians will believe that, and it’s really critical to our future.”

McCormick has been pressed about Trump’s changing stance on numerous issues, from abortion to TikTok to marijuana, and said Harris is “changing all her positions.”

“I think it’s an election year gymnastics exercise, and we have a synchronized interplay with Bob Casey and Kamala Harris sharing the issues because they see that they’re on the wrong side of these proposals,” he added.

Democrats, for their part, have put reproductive rights at the center of their messaging as Harris and Casey hope to influence suburban women and moderates.

Casey, a Catholic who once described himself as a “pro-life Democrat,” is now attacking his opponent over eliminating federal abortion protections. He defended his evolving views on the issue and warned voters that the election of his opponent could lead to a ban on the abortion pill and contraception.

McCormick said the issue should be “left to the states” and stressed that he would never support federal laws banning the procedure or contraceptives.

McCormick also said he believes any legislation banning abortion should include exceptions for rape, incest and when the mother’s life is in danger. He did not define after which week he believes abortions should be banned, only “according to the viability of the fetus.”

Bradley Flenory, a chef at a Pittsburgh restaurant, said that while the economy is important, reproductive rights are his biggest issue. It is personal for him and his family as his wife suffers from a disease that increases infertility in women. He said they had been trying to have a child for 10 years and in vitro fertilization was now their only option.

“We had two pregnancies. She had one stillbirth and almost died, and the other was a miscarriage,” Flenory said. “We tried IVF. So my target is Kamala Harris because, you know, Trump and everyone else is anti-abortion.”

Flenory said he “doesn’t trust” Trump or McCormick’s assurances that they would not impose federal restrictions on abortion or other forms of reproductive care: “Trump is Trump. Trump will do whatever he wants.”