Another wealthy, high-profile Republican has officially entered the Pennsylvania Senate race.
David McCormick, a 56-year-old former hedge fund executive and Army veteran, formally announced his bid to replace the retiring Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) on Thursday, "joining a crowded and free-spending field in one of the country's most critical Senate races," reports The Philadelphia Inquirer.
"I'm Dave McCormick," the new candidate said in an ad released Thursday. "I fought for freedom in Iraq and American capitalism, not socialism. And now I'm running for the US Senate to fight the woke mob, hijacking America's future."
McCormick grew up in Pennsylvania, though has most recently lived in Connecticut, where the hedge fund is located, writes CNN. Keystone state Republicans had been recruiting him to come back to the state and run. He left the hedge fund job this month.
Notably, McCormick also has ties to former Presidents Donald Trump and George W. Bush, having served in the Treasury Department under the latter while his wife acted as deputy national security adviser under the former, CNN reports. As early campaign advisers, he's brought on some well-known ex-Trump aides, like Hope Hicks and Stephen Miller, writes the Inquirer.
Now in addition to McCormick, the GOP field also includes businessman Jeff Bartos, former U.S. ambassador Carla Sands, and perhaps most notably, TV personality Dr. Mehmet Oz, who recently ended his long-running daytime show in pursuit of Toomey's seat.
The Republican opening was originally dominated by the Trump-backed Sean Parnell, who dropped out "amid a bitter public custody fight with his estranged wife," CNN writes.
Democratic candidates include state Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, Rep. Conor Lamp (D-Pa.), Montgomery County Commissioner Val Arkoosh, state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (D), and Philadelphia emergency room doctor Kevin Baumlin, per the Inquirer.