Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick speaks to college students at Two Locals Brewing Company in Philadelphia Oct. 23, 2024 (Capital-Star photo by John Cole)
PHILADELPHIA— In less than two weeks, some voters in Pennsylvania will be casting ballots for the first time. On Wednesday, both candidates for U.S. Senate spent time on college campuses courting these voters who may make the difference in the upcoming election.
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), joined by U.S. Sen. Rafael Warnock (D-Ga.), talked to a few dozen people on Temple University’s campus Wednesday afternoon about the impact he believes they will have on his race for a fourth term in office.
Pointing at a large map of the state, which has become a staple at his campaign events, Casey said “within the city of Philadelphia and within other communities where there are young people going to colleges and universities, whether it’s out here, in Pittsburgh or whether it’s in Clarion or Indiana, or places where there’s a college or university in our state, those campuses, and your fellow students at those campuses and here in Philly could determine the entire future of the country based upon what we do between now and eight o’clock on Election night.”
“So no pressure, Temple students, right?” he joked.
Republican challenger Dave McCormick spoke to a few dozen people for a fireside chat event with American Conservation Coalition Action, a conservative group focused on climate policies, at the University of Pennsylvania on Wednesday evening.
“It’s great to be here with your demographic and the reason I say that is, I don’t want to seem too dramatic, but I’m 59…,this election’s really not about us, you know honestly, we’re going to be OK no matter what, we just are,” said McCormick, who was joined by his wife Dina, at the event.
“The question is, are you going to be OK? The question is, is the America that lies ahead for all of you going to be the same opportunity that we had,” he added.
U.S. Sens. Rafael Warnock (D-Ga.) and Bob Casey (with microphone) speak with students at Temple University in Philadelphia Oct. 23, 2024 (Capital-Star photo by John Cole)
Casey’s remarks at the TLO Event Complex on Cecil B. Moore Ave echoed most of the stump speeches he’s given throughout the campaign, emphasizing what he calls as the “fight for rights.” On voting rights, he cited his support for the John Lewis Voting Rights Act; on women’s rights, he talked about voting for the Women’s Health Protection Act, restoring Roe v. Wade as the law of the land; and on workers rights, he called for the passage of the Protect the Right to Organize (PRO) Act.
“It’s real simple,” Casey said. “We’re either going to protect and strengthen unions or we’re not. And if we don’t have unions, we’re not going to have a middle class.”
McCormick delivered portions of his stump speech inside Two Locals Brewing Company, while taking questions from a student at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and the president of the conservative coalition that is backing his candidacy. He mainly emphasized his economic agenda, while criticizing the spending from the Biden-Harris administration, and energy policies, which he views as the avenue to create a better future for Pennsylvania.
“When I talk to people of your generation, the number one issue is, is there going to be good opportunities for jobs? Everybody’s got different priorities, but that’s a key issue,” McCormick said.
“And our economy now is not serving many Pennsylvanians and many Americans well,” he said, adding his belief that the “free enterprise system” is the best way to create opportunities, although he also discussed his support for “fair trade,” not “free trade.”
Both candidates did address the topic of education throughout their appearances to college students, although their messages differed.
Casey said he was proud of his record in the U.S. Senate and touted the passage of the American Rescue Plan and the impact he believes it had on education.
“I’ll just give you one number for the city of Philadelphia,” Casey said. “$1.7 billion for schools in this city.”
“We’ve never seen federal investment in public education like that, never, never in the history of the country and it happened because you gave us power,” he added, saying that legislation backed by Democrats helped rescue communities on a number of issues.
McCormick said that schools in Philadelphia and around Pennsylvania are “failing miserably,” seemingly citing a 2018 study by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington that stated the United States ranks 27th in the world in education. He said new concepts like school vouchers, which he referred to as “school choice,” would benefit every American to get ahead in education.
In answering a question about how conservatives can help promote economic principles to younger voters and college graduates, McCormick said that “it’s like socialism is in vogue again on college campuses” and criticized efforts made by the Biden administration to cancel $160 billion of student loan debt.
Casey and McCormick vie for Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate seat
Warnock lauded Casey as “probably the Senate’s strongest voice” on “greedflation” a term Casey has become synonymous with in his effort to combat corporate price gouging. Casey also criticized McCormick’s record as a hedge fund CEO and claimed his opponent would be on the side of billionaires.
During McCormick’s event, he blasted Casey’s proposal on combating price gouging, claiming his opponent’s proposals were like Venezuelan policies.
“Whenever the government starts doing that, that’s the beginning of the end in terms of having the most dynamic economy in the world, which is going to create the most opportunity for all of you,” McCormick said.
College and Gen Z voters by the numbers
The 2020 presidential election saw a significant uptick in youth voter turnout. A Tufts University Tisch College analysis found that roughly 50% of voters aged 18-29 voted in the 2020 presidential election, which was an 11 point increase from the 2016 presidential election. In Pennsylvania, 54% of those in that age group voted in the 2020 presidential election.
Democrats and Republicans who spoke at both campaign events said they were excited to vote in the upcoming election.
“This is the first election that a lot of us get to vote for our president. We’ve never got to do that before. We’re all super excited, super hyped,” said Lourdes Cardamone, a junior at Temple University and president of Temple Democrats, on stage opening up for Casey. “And you guys all know the youth vote is critical in this election. Our votes are our power. They’re how we express ourselves, how we carve out the future that we want to see.”
“Young people, we are fired up, we are passionate, we are opinionated, we are impatient, because it’s our future and our lives that are on the line,” Cardamone added. “So we will show up to the polls in November. Many of us have already shown up and cast our ballots, and when we show up to the polls, we need to elect people who look out for our future.”
Finn Broder, a Wharton Student involved with University of Pennsylvania Republicans, delivered the first round of questions to McCormick on Wednesday evening. He said on campus there is somebody basically on every block telling them to vote.
“I think the turnout will be high,” he told the Capital-Star following the McCormick fireside chat.
GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.
A CNBC/Generation Lab survey released on Tuesday showed that Harris is leading Trump by 20 points with voters between the ages of 18 and 34, a bump from a July poll showing her lead at just 12%.
Younger voters have favored Democrats historically nationwide and in Pennsylvania, although the margin has varied over the past decade.
In the 2020 presidential election, Joe Biden won 62% of the vote with Pennsylvanians ages 18 to 29, which was the Democrat’s strongest age group, while Donald Trump received 35%, according to exit polling. In 2016, Democrat Hillary Clinton recorded 52% of the vote among this age group, while Trump received 43%.
Democrat John Fetterman posted even stronger numbers with young voters during his successful campaign for U.S. Senate over Republican Mehmet Oz. According to 2022 exit polling he won 70% of the vote of Pennsylvanians aged 18 to 29, while Oz won 28%.
During Casey’s last successful campaign in 2018 when he defeated Republican Congressman Lou Barletta by double digits, he also carried young voters. 61% of Pennsylvania voters aged 18 to 29 voted for Casey, while 37% voted for Barletta.
“I think young people, whether they’re on college campuses or otherwise, have an outsized role to play in this race,” Casey told reporters on Wednesday. “They might be the one demographic group that determines this election and therefore the next 50 years. And that’s why I’ve been encouraged wherever I go in the state where young people are, you see that intensity and enthusiasm to vote, and they know what the choice is in my race, as well as the presidential.”
Even if these voters tend to lean left, McCormick told the Capital-Star on Wednesday that he feels “pretty good energy” when he’s campaigned on various college campuses throughout the state.
“I feel a lot of people engaged, and I know that traditionally, the perceptions believe that on college campuses, people are more liberal, but I just feel a lot of interest and engagement on the question we talked about here, which is, what’s your economic future, and are there a set of policies in place that are gonna make sure that all of you had the same opportunity people like me have had,” McCormick said.
“People are out there knocking on doors, and I felt more engagement than I expected,” he added.
The latest polling shows Casey and McCormick in a close race in a matchup that may determine which party controls the U.S. Senate in 2025 and beyond. Although polling has shown Casey leading most of the cycle, The Cook Political Report, a national ratings outlet, recently updated the race from its “lean Democratic” category to “toss-up,” indicating the race has tightened in recent weeks.
The presidential campaigns are also focusing on earning college students’ votes.
On Wednesday, the Harris campaign announced its “Vote for Our Future” early vote college campus tour to mobilize young voters on college campuses across battleground states, including Pennsylvania. This also includes a seven-figure ad buy from the campaign targeting these voters.
Like Harris, Trump has also made a play for younger voters recently by participating in various podcasts with younger audiences and is scheduled to hold a rally at the Bryce Jordan Center on Penn State University’s campus on Saturday afternoon.