Dave McCormick calls for suspension of negative campaign advertising after Casey pulls all ads

Referring to President Joe Biden’s call for unity and decency following the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dave McCormick called on his opponent, incumbent Senator Bob Casey, to stop negative advertising.

But Casey had already announced that he would temporarily stop all advertising following the shooting in Butler County on Saturday.

The call to stop airing attack ads comes as both Senate campaigns seek to distance themselves from harmful rhetoric and political violence, even as they continue to talk past each other.

McCormick posted the request on social media on Monday.

“This is the time when we as Americans must come together and recognize that what makes our country and its people so extraordinary transcends party,” McCormick wrote. “Let’s take some time to put aside the negativity.”

McCormick’s campaign has not yet pulled its negative ads. In a text message, a spokeswoman for McCormick said the campaign would only remove its negative ads if Casey’s campaign did the same. As recently as Monday, stations in the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh area were airing ads from the Casey campaign.

The Casey campaign announced Saturday that it would work with networks to temporarily halt all campaign ads, including negative ones. The campaign has no control over which previously scheduled ads will air.

“The campaign will work in the coming days to resume communications with voters to educate the people of Pennsylvania about Senator Casey’s record, his opponent’s record and the importance of this Senate race,” Casey’s campaign spokeswoman Maddy McDaniel said in a statement.

The campaign did not say when it planned to resume running ads, but according to AdImpact, a political advertising tracker, ad bookings for Casey will resume on Monday in September.

According to reports from ad monitoring software Critical Mention, Casey ads ran in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh on Monday morning despite the campaign’s requests to stop the advertising.

The hotly contested Senate race has seen attack ads on both sides. McCormick’s team recently released an ad criticizing Biden and Casey’s stance on border control. Meanwhile, Casey’s team pulled an ad attacking McCormick for his investments in China while CEO of Bridgewater Associates. But even if the campaigns stop negative advertising, ads bought by political action committees on behalf of the campaigns could continue to air.