Dave McCormick’s ongoing outreach to Jewish voters in his campaign to unseat Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) has been yielding some notable results, according to interviews with disaffected Jewish Democrats now pledging to back the Republican nominee in November.

The change of heart among some single-issue Jewish voters who count Israel as a top concern in the election underscores how political allegiances have been scrambled in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks, even as it remains unclear if their decision to cross party lines will meaningfully influence the outcome of the race in a hotly contested battleground state.

McCormick has been particularly proactive in his efforts to court Jewish voters in Pennsylvania, who represent about 3% of the state’s population and could make the difference in a close election. The former hedge fund executive and military veteran has been outspoken in his support for Israel as it fights Hamas and other Iran-backed proxies in the region, while raising alarms about antisemitism on college campuses.  

He has also criticized Casey’s record on such issues, most recently in an opinion article published in the New York Post on Sunday, where he accused the senator of failing to push for a Senate floor vote to advance a major bill called the Antisemitism Awareness Act, which is aimed at addressing rising antisemitic activity on campuses across the country. 

McCormick’s messaging has resonated with some Jewish Democrats who spoke with Jewish Insider on Tuesday — noting that they have appreciated his statements of solidarity during an especially fraught moment for the Jewish community in Pennsylvania and beyond. 

Rona Kaufman, a law professor at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh and a self-described progressive Democrat, said she intends to vote for McCormick — whom she first met at a hostage vigil in the heavily Jewish neighborhood of Squirrel Hill — because she agrees with “his kind of worldview and perspective when it comes to national security and Iran and Israel.”

But Casey has fallen short of her expectations amid the war in Gaza, she said in an interview with JI, citing his endorsement of Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA), a fierce critic of Israel, as particularly “problematic” for her. “A Democratic Party that would disavow the far-left fringe elements, that is a party I would still be voting for,” she said.

Kaufman, whose parents are Israeli and whose daughter lives in Israel, said she believes her progressive values remain intact even as she prepares to cast her vote for the opposing party, which she has never done before. “This is what I’m still voting on, all of my core values, but on a global perspective,” she said, “as opposed to just thinking about which laws are going to be passed in the U.S. over the next four years.”

Steve Rosenberg, a pro-Israel Democrat who lives in Philadelphia, said that he too is planning to vote for McCormick in the November election, arguing that the Republican candidate has demonstrated more meaningful engagement with Jewish voters on key issues. 

He took issue with Casey’s decision to support the Iran nuclear deal in 2015 — which McCormick has frequently highlighted on the trail — and expressed disappointment that the senator has failed to pass the Antisemitic Awareness Act, which was approved by the House and enjoys bipartisan support. 

“His name’s on it,” Rosenberg said of the bill aimed at countering rising campus antisemitism “But he’s not a leader.”

Casey, the bill’s lead co-sponsor, has introduced the legislation’s text as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, and has reportedly privately urged Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to bring the act to a floor vote — amid criticism from Jewish leaders who are frustrated by the continued delay.

In a recent statement to JI, Maddy McDaniel, a spokesperson for Casey’s campaign, said that he “is the leader on fighting antisemitism in the Senate and is endorsed by AIPAC and other leading Jewish groups.”

“David McCormick has no credibility on this issue after he invested millions in Rumble, a website that platforms hate where Holocaust denial has ‘found a home,’ according to the Anti-Defamation League,” McDaniel added.

Both Rosenberg and Kaufman said their feelings on the Senate race are shared by some of their Jewish peers in Pennsylvania — even if such voters remain hesitant to speak publicly due to social backlash for switching sides.

Meanwhile, other Jewish voters are more conflicted, viewing Casey and McCormick as dependable allies. One pro-Israel activist in Pittsburgh, who asked to remain anonymous to speak candidly, said that she is “leaning toward McCormick” but still sees Casey as “a friend.”

“I would say that my No. 1 issue is the safety and security of the Jewish community, the future of the Jewish community in America and Israel’s ability to defend itself by itself,” she told JI. “I’m going to vote for the candidates who I believe best represent those values right now, despite the fact that many other issues matter to me as well.”

McCormick now speaks more urgently to those concerns, she said, alluding largely to his hawkish stance on Iran and its influence in the region. Still, she added, “I actually like them both,” noting that she is rarely comfortable with candidates from both parties in a major election. “I’m not very worried,” she said. 

Polling indicates that Republicans are making inroads with Jewish voters in Pennsylvania, a key battleground state that could decide the presidential race as well as the balance of power in the Senate. A survey recently commissioned by Teach Coalition, an Orthodox advocacy group, showed Casey at 47% among Jewish respondents and McCormick at 32% — marking a notable decline in Democratic support.

While some strategists have cautioned against predictions of any dramatic fall in Jewish support for Democrats this cycle, even a slight uptick in GOP enthusiasm could have consequences in a close race.

Despite a turn toward McCormick among some Jewish Democrats in Pennsylvania, Casey, who entered the Senate in 2007, continues to enjoy meaningful support from Jewish and pro-Israel activists. He is endorsed by AIPAC’s political action committee and has received significant backing from pro-Israel donors this cycle, according to OpenSecrets.

“Sen. Casey has been a strong supporter of the U.S.-Israel relationship and has earned the active support of the pro-Israel community,” Marshall Wittmann, a spokesperson for AIPAC, said in a statement to JI on Tuesday. “During his tenure in the U.S. Senate, he has consistently taken a leadership role in advancing numerous pro-Israel measures.”

Still, one prominent AIPAC activist in Pennsylvania, who spoke on condition of anonymity to address a sensitive issue, said he is “desperately” hoping that McCormick wins, even as he sponsored a fundraiser on Casey’s behalf and contributed to his campaign, in keeping with AIPAC’s long-standing policy of supporting so-called “friendly incumbents” up for reelection.

The activist, a registered Democrat, characterized Casey as “nominally good” on some issues, but said he feels that McCormick is a stronger representative of his views about Israel and Middle East policy. “I made my wife write out a check to McCormick,” he said.