In Pennsylvania’s key Senate race, Bob Casey and Dave McCormick strike a balance with the top of the ticket

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and Republican Dave McCormick have each sought to strike a balance with the top of their ticket in Pennsylvania, a state that will play a key role in determining control of both the White House and the 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 on which they are in agreement. But they have also noted areas in which they diverge with their party’s presidential nominee in an effort to show independence in the narrowly divided state —  and rebut attacks from their opponent.

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 out from Election Day.

Unlike the Democratic Senate candidates running in the key states of Ohio, Montana and Arizona, Casey has campaigned closely with Harris as he seeks a fourth term. He has joined her at campaign events throughout the state and openly supported her policy proposals, like gutting the 60-vote threshold required to pass most legislation in the Senate.

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

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

“They’re going to make a decision in the presidential race, where they’ll weigh a series of considerations. They’re also going to make a decision in my race that will be specific to the choice about who their next senator is going to be,” he continued.

Casey still needs to win over people like Seth Klein, a sophomore at the University of Pittsburgh. The first-time voter plans to support Harris, but he isn't committed to sticking with the Democratic Party on the rest of the ballot.

“I’m registered as independent, so I don’t necessarily lean one way or the other. It’s just whoever the better candidate is, in my eyes, that’s what I’m gonna vote for,” Klein said.

Meanwhile, McCormick, a former hedge fund CEO and combat veteran, won Trump’s endorsement this cycle after losing the 2022 Republican Senate primary in Pennsylvania. Trump, who backed celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz in that race, had referred to McCormick as “a liberal Wall Street Republican.”

Now, McCormick has sought to glue himself to Trump, who won Pennsylvania in 2016 and lost it in 2020. He’s been a regular speaker at the former president’s rallies, including in Erie this past weekend, but has also emphasized their limited policy distinctions.

“I’ve had a history where if I had differed with President Trump, I’ve said it,” McCormick said, “He said some things recently where he was in favor of lifting the ban, the cap on SALT, which in essence, gives tax breaks to millionaire homeowners in California, New York at the expense of Pennsylvania taxpayers. I wouldn’t be for that, as an example.”

Trump “said some things on Ukraine. My view on Ukraine is we should support Ukraine with military aid,” McCormick said. Pennsylvania is home to the country’s second-highest population of Ukrainian Americans.

“My view is also that President Trump’s right, that France and Germany should pay their fair share,” he added.

Asked if he would vote for Trump’s proposed 60% tariff on imported goods from China as senator, McCormick said he supports using tariffs “strategically” but wouldn’t commit to Trump’s specific plan.

“I’m not going to respond to the specifics of that,” McCormick said, adding that he’s “not sure” what Trump means by his latest plan. “I am supportive of using tariffs, very specifically, to make sure we get a fair deal, and that’s what President Trump’s done so far and I support him in doing that.”

McCormick is also expected to attend Trump’s Butler rally Saturday, the GOP presidential nominee’s first time returning to the area since the assassination attempt on him in July. McCormick has encouraged both Republicans and Democrats not to “resort to dehumanizing rhetoric,” but told NBC News that he hasn’t directly spoken to Trump about it.

“I don’t give advice to the former president,” McCormick said, adding that Republicans writ large “need to focus on a battle of ideas” rather than personal attacks. (At his weekend rally in Erie, Trump referred to Harris as “mentally impaired.”)

“I got to run a campaign that I feel best represents who I am and the kind of senator that I’ll be, and I can only manage myself,” McCormick said.

McCormick has also sought to portray Casey’s alignment with Harris as a negative on issues such as immigration, inflation and energy.

While Harris now says she has no intention to ban fracking, a key technology that transformed the energy industry in rural parts of Pennsylvania, it’s a reversal from her position as a senator and presidential candidate in 2019.

“I’ve supported natural gas extraction as a public official, and when there was an attempt in the United States Congress to ban it, I opposed it, and I’ll oppose it again,” Casey said.

Addressing coal workers at the Gilberton power plant in Frackville on Monday, McCormick called it “the height of hypocrisy for an election year, 50 days from the election, that they’re all of a sudden in favor of natural gas, in favor of fossil fuels. I don’t think Pennsylvanians are going to believe that, and it’s really critical to our future.”

Pressed about Trump’s evolving stances on numerous issues from abortion to TikTok to marijuana, McCormick said Harris “is changing all of her positions.”

“I think it’s election year gymnastics, and we have synchronizing flip-flopping going on with Bob Casey and Kamala Harris flip-flopping on the issues, because they see they’re on the wrong side of these proposals,” he added.

For their part, Democrats have made reproductive rights central to their messaging as Harris and Casey hope to sway suburban women and moderates.

Casey, a Catholic who once called himself a “pro-life Democrat,” is now attacking his opponent over the dismantling of federal abortion protections. He defended his evolved views on the issue, and warned voters that electing his opponent could lead to bans on the abortion pill and contraception.

McCormick said the issue should be “left up to the states” and maintained he would never support federal legislation banning the procedure or contraceptives.

McCormick also said he believes any legislation that bans abortion should make exceptions for rape, incest and when the life of the mother is in danger. He has not defined when he believes abortions should be banned, only stating “after fetal viability.”

Bradley Flenory, a cook at a restaurant in Pittsburgh, said that while the economy is important, reproductive rights is his top issue. It’s personal for him and his family, as his wife has a condition that increases infertility in women. He said they have been trying to have a baby for 10 years, and in vitro fertilization is their only option now.

“We had two pregnancies. She had one stillborn and almost died, and the other one was a miscarriage,” Flenory said. “We were trying to do IVF. So, where I’m going for is Kamala Harris because, you know, Trump and everybody’s against abortion.”

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

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com