PENNSYLVANIA, USA — Verify viewers wrote us with a question about the Republican primary winner for Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate seat.
Al and Sue asked, does Senate candidate Dave McCormick live in Pennsylvania?
Their questions came shortly after McCormick’s opponent, U.S. Senator Bob Casey Jr., released a new campaign ad with a claim about McCormick's residency.
"McCormick’s running for Senate in Pennsylvania but he doesn’t live here," a voiceover in the ad reads.
The ad also includes a news clip from a television station in Pittsburgh connecting McCormick to "a $16 million mansion in Connecticut."
So, let’s Verify.
Our sources are the Allegheny County Recorder of Deeds, New York City Department of Finance and the Pennsylvania Department of State.
This isn’t the first time questions have surfaced about McCormick’s residency.
Last year a McCormick campaign official responded to claims, telling the Associated Press: “While he maintains a residence in Connecticut as his daughters finish high school, Dave’s home is in Pittsburgh.”
The Pennsylvania Department of State’s candidate database lists Dave McCormick’s municipality as Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The department told FOX43 it doesn’t have the authority to assess a candidate’s eligibility outside of authenticating the signatures on the candidate’s nomination paperwork.
Allegheny County records show McCormick purchased a $2.8 million home in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood using an LLC in November 2021, just months before launching his campaign for U.S. Senate, running for the Republican nomination against Dr. Oz.
As for his links to Connecticut, public records do link McCormick to the property shown in the ad, but he is not the owner.
In January 2023, McCormick sold a multimillion-dollar condo in New York City’s Upper East Side using a different LLC.
McCormick listed a home in Westport, Connecticut as his address in the deed, despite owning the place in Pittsburgh at the time.
Eight months later, McCormick launched his second bid for U.S. Senate using the Pittsburgh address.
A listing for the Connecticut address matches the photograph in Casey’s campaign ad, showing a 12,500-square-foot mansion worth an estimated $15 million.
But, we can Verify the claim McCormick lives in Connecticut needs more context.
While it's unclear exactly where McCormick spends the majority of his time, we can confirm he owns a home in Pittsburgh.
The McCormick campaign said the candidate has been all over Pennsylvania in the leadup to the election.
Even if he does spend time out of state, it won’t change his candidacy.
Article I, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution says “No Person shall be a Senator … who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.”
Put simply, as long as he lives in Pennsylvania on election day, McCormick could still take office if he wins.
When asked to comment on this story, McCormick Campaign Communications Director Elizabeth Gregory responded with the following statement:
"Pennsylvanians from across the commonwealth are joining Dave’s movement to send a 7th-generation Pennsylvanian, combat veteran, West Point graduate, and PA job creator to the Senate to deliver new leadership and fresh ideas. Career politician and habitual liar Bob Casey will tell voters any lie in order to extend his 30 years of living on Pennsylvania taxpayers’ dime so he can continue voting for Joe Biden's failing agenda 98% of the time, fueling a border crisis that has killed over 4,000 Pennsylvanians from fentanyl, violent crime, record inflation and regulations that are killing the commonwealth's energy sector. On November 5, Pennsylvania will retire empty suit Bob Casey and send Dave McCormick to the Senate."