LANGHORNE, Pa. — Pennsylvania’s Senate race is expected to draw up to $360 million in ad spending, but this week it’s the candidates’ personal financial portfolios making headlines.
The Post reported Monday that Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) has a roughly three-cent stake in Yichang Humanwell, a Chinese company that manufactures legal fentanyl intended for domestic medical use within China.
The company says it doesn’t export the drug to the US, and Casey’s campaign is defending the Senator, claiming the investment is through a joint 529 College Savings Plan and represents less than 1% of the index fund’s total value.
Fox News reported Tuesday that Casey is also invested in two other Chinese fentanyl companies through the fund: Jiangsu Nhwa Pharmaceutical and Sinopharm Group, which are involved in the manufacturing and wholesale of Chinese narcotics.
Casey’s GOP opponent, former hedge fund executive Dave McCormick, has waged a strong campaign against the fentanyl issue in his bid for Senate — repeatedly saying the drug killed the equivalent of “two Vietnams” in America just last year.
McCormick has also been criticized for his own Chinese investments in the past, including by pro-Casey television ads.
McCormick’s former company, Bridgewater Associates, held $1.7 million in Yichang Humanwell in 2021, while the now-politician served as its CEO.
Asked about the news of Casey’s investments, McCormick tried to distinguish his investments as a business executive from his opponent’s personal portfolio.
“Bridgewater, not Dave McCormick… owned part of a pharmaceutical company that sold legal [fentanyl] to China,” McCormick told The Post Tuesday.
“Then Bob Casey, the ultimate liar and hypocrite, we discover, owns the same thing in his personal portfolio,” McCormick added. “I didn’t even own this [personally], this was a company I had the chance to lead.”
Maddy McDaniel, a spokeswoman for Casey’s campaign, accused McCormick of “selling out Pennsylvanians for profit.”
“David McCormick will say anything to try and cover up how he sold out Pennsylvanians for profit, but the facts are clear: he directly invested millions in Chinese fentanyl and profited off Pennsylvanians’ pain,” McDaniel said.
“David McCormick decided to invest in a Chinese fentanyl company and Bob Casey never did,” McDaniel’s statement continued.
A supporter at McCormick’s “pro-family” event in Bucks County on Tuesday asked how his campaign would respond to such attacks from the Casey camp.
“I don’t want to have my entire campaign be responding to lies that the other side has said, because I’m afraid that that’s sort of the game the opposition wants me to play ” McCormick said.
