(The Center Square) \u2013 Taking the stage during the first night of the Republican Party\u2019s midterm convention, U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., made the case that President Donald Trump and the GOP have delivered for Americans.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWashington elites sacrificed working families on the altar of cheaper goods and higher profits, and they decided that America could stop making things, and they left us dangerously dependent on China,\u201d McCormick said. \u201cAnd America said no more.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe rejected decline, and America elected President Trump and Republican majorities, and we have delivered,\u201d he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
McCormick, the state\u2019s junior senator, was elected to office in 2024 after defeating three-term incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey by a narrow margin of roughly 15,000 votes. At the top of the ticket that same year, Trump won Pennsylvania\u2019s 19 electoral votes by defeating Vice President Kamala Harris on his path to winning a second term in office.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are confronting China. We’re unleashing American energy. We’re rebuilding our defense industry, and we’re creating tomorrow’s technology,\u201d McCormick said during Wednesday evening\u2019s address in Dallas, Texas. \u201cThere is no doubt. There is no doubt that the Republican Party is the party of the American worker.\u201d<\/p>\n
Throughout the 2024 campaign, McCormick campaigned alongside Trump and took jabs at President Joe Biden\u2019s policies. On Wednesday evening, McCormick echoed similar themes and criticized Biden for his decision to block a proposed deal<\/a> for Japanese-owned Nippon Steel to buy Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel.<\/p>\n Trump also opposed the acquisition<\/a> and vowed to block the deal in late 2024, instead wanting to use tax incentives and tariffs to boost U.S. Steel.<\/p>\n In May 2025, however, Trump reversed course and approved the sale<\/a> to Nippon after the foreign manufacturer said it would invest more in the United States.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis will be a planned partnership between United States Steel and Nippon Steel, which will create at least 70,000 jobs and add $14 Billion Dollars to the U.S. Economy,\u201d Trump wrote on Truth Social.<\/a> \u201cThe bulk of the investment will occur in the next 14 months.\u201d<\/p>\n McCormick lauded Trump\u2019s leadership to secure the deal and described it as \u201cone of my most rewarding moments\u201d when Jason Zugai, president of the company, said those Pennsylvania jobs would not have been saved without the president and his efforts.<\/p>\n McCormick, too, sided with Biden<\/a> against the deal before winning his seat in 2024.<\/p>\n Zugai and other Pennsylvania workers, including a coal mine shift supervisor, a heavy equipment operator, a natural gas production foreman, and a pair of workers at the Philadelphia shipyard, joined McCormick on stage towards the end of his roughly 10-minute speech.<\/p>\n McCormick argued that they were examples of the Republican Party\u2019s policies at work in the Keystone State and beyond.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAmerican workers, American working families, this is the Republican Party,\u201d McCormick said to USA chants from the crowd. \u201cThe choice is clear: Will we dream heroic dreams and build a better future, or will we surrender to socialism, defeatism, anti-Americanism?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI refuse to surrender. President Trump refuses to surrender,\u201d he added. \u201cThis November, there can be no surrender. Ladies and gentlemen, let’s build an America worthy of our heroic dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n McCormick also specifically cited drug manufacturing in the Lehigh Valley, Hanwha investing in the Philadelphia shipyard, and investments into energy, AI, and defense as proof that jobs were being created in Pennsylvania. He also touted GOP-passed legislation that made overtime and tips tax-free, while also arguing that the administration is cutting red tape and empowering small businesses.<\/p>\n The speech comes just two months before the midterm election, which will determine which party controls both chambers in 2027.\u00a0<\/p>\n While McCormick touted the Republican Party’s agenda, polling shows that Trump and Republicans are currently unpopular in Pennsylvania.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to a Franklin & Marshall College poll<\/a> in August, voters say the economy (31%) is the most important problem facing the state. Among those who mention economic problems, Democrats lead Republicans as the party that can best handle the issue (47% to 23%), which is a larger advantage for Democrats than F&M\u2019s June<\/a> poll, (42% to 24%).<\/p>\n The economy is the top concern of every partisan group, in that August poll, showing that nearly half (44%) of respondents say they are \u201cworse off\u201d financially than a year ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n Twenty-seven percent said that Trump is doing an \u201cexcellent\u201d or \u201cgood\u201d job as president, while 73% believe he is doing a \u201cfair\u201d or \u201cpoor\u201d job.<\/p>\n Although polling has consistently shown Trump\u2019s approval rating underwater in Pennsylvania, McCormick has maintained more favorable ratings.\u00a0<\/p>\n A New York Times\/Philadelphia Inquirer\/Siena poll<\/a> conducted in Pennsylvania last month showed that 39% have a favorable opinion of McCormick, while 30% have an unfavorable view of the GOP senator. However, 20% responded that they either didn\u2019t know or refused to answer when asked about their view of McCormick, while another 10% said they have not heard of him.\u00a0<\/p>\n Prior to McCormick taking the stage, U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, a Democrat, delivered a video message<\/a> for the GOP convention, lauding his relationship with his GOP colleague.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cDave McCormick is the kind of senator that gets the job done, and he’s going to fight for Pennsylvania,\u201d Fetterman said in the video.\u00a0<\/p>\n Fetterman\u2019s appearance, along with McCormick and other battleground Republicans running for the U.S. House, has received pushback from Democrats in Pennsylvania.\u00a0<\/p>\n “Donald Trump\u2019s chaos and higher costs are hurting the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania \u2013 so Pennsylvania Democrats are focused on one thing only: winning up and down the ballot this November,\u201d Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chairman Eugene DePasquale<\/a> wrote on Wednesday evening. \u201cWe aren’t going to be distracted by GOP stunts like this video or a weak midterm convention held by a party that’s entirely dedicated to enabling Trump’s ego and defending his disastrous agenda while Pennsylvanians pay the price.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe reality is clear: Donald Trump and his enablers are raising costs, slashing healthcare, attacking our freedoms, and making life worse for Pennsylvania families,\u201d he continued. \u201cWe are fighting to beat them \u2013 and that will remain our entire focus as we work to turn out every voter and deliver a resounding victory across the Commonwealth this November.”<\/p>\n McCormick also spoke about his military service in the U.S. Army\u2019s 82nd Airborne Division and how his unit was united despite coming from different backgrounds and regions of the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n He did not reference the Iran War during his speech on Wednesday evening.<\/p>\n McCormick and Trump won\u2019t be on the ballot this November, although the president told attendees on Wednesday evening to treat the election as if he were<\/a> in an effort to promote Republican candidates on the ballot in the fall.\u00a0<\/p>\n McCormick\u2019s seat isn\u2019t up for reelection until 2030, but at least one Republican thinks he could be a candidate for a different office before then.<\/p>\n U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, a Republican from Ohio, told the Washington Examiner<\/a> on Wednesday evening that he thinks McCormick could be a \u201cgood person\u201d to run for the GOP presidential nomination in 2028.<\/p>\n