Philly firefighters union backs Bob Casey’s rival in Senate race

The firefighters union representing Pennsylvania’s largest city has endorsed the Republican businessman David McCormick in Thursday’s heated U.S. Senate race.

The president of IAFF Local 22, the union that represents more than 4,500 firefighters and first responders in Philadelphia, said this election cycle is the first time they have met with Senator Bob Casey, Jr. throughout the 12 years of mandate.

“Dave McCormick possesses all the qualities that will catapult us forward,” union president Mike Bresnan said at a news conference announcing the endorsement.

“We’re confident that Dave McCormick will step up when we need him. He is unequivocally the right choice for senator at this crucial time in our country’s history.”

SENATE CANDIDATE DAVID MCCORMICK SAYS PENNSYLVANIA BELIEVES AMERICA IS ‘IN DECLINE’

Speaking at the union hall in Northern Liberties, McCormick said first responders are seeing firsthand how parts of Philadelphia and the country at large are struggling and dealing with the repercussions of lax criminal justice policies.

“We’re here today to talk about why these people are voting for change as opposed to the status quo,” he said.

“We have urban decay, skyrocketing crime rates. They make parts of this incredible city a terrifying place to raise children,” he said, while standing just a mile or so from Kensington, the North Philadelphia neighborhood often called “America’s greatest.” open air drug market’.

TIM WALZ TRYING TO GET THE FIREFIGHTERS IN DURING BOSTON CONVENTION TALK: ‘WE’LL BACK YOU’

He pointed to “soros-funded prosecutors” regarding progressive law enforcement policies, naming Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, a Democrat, as one who has “undermined the rule of law” in his work.

“(Casey) essentially supported policies that made their (firefighters and first responders) jobs harder. He supports liberal prosecutors like Larry Krasner. He refuses to support tough enforcement and tough border policies and has voted against a total of $800 million in opioid and narcotics detection funds in the Senate.”

McCormick added that Casey also voted against it Kate’s Lawa bill that would impose minimum prison terms for illegal immigrant offenders after a young woman was killed by a Mexican national several years ago on a San Francisco pier.

The Republican nodded to the fact that the Philadelphia IAFF local endorsed Casey in his re-election bid against former Hazleton Mayor and U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, R-Pa., in 2018, appearing to suggest that his endorsement this year it was revolutionary.

McCormick closed by criticizing Casey and others over the closing of the PYREX manufacturing plant in Charleroi, Washington County, Pa., where the company is based.

“He ignored the workers there for weeks. He only spoke to them after he heard they were with them in solidarity.”

Adding to the endorsement, Bresnan said Thursday that McCormick “is unequivocally the right choice for senator at this crucial time in our country’s history.”

Philadelphia, both Pennsylvania’s largest and bluest city, has received more attention from Republicans across the country in recent races.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

In 2022, Dr. Mehmet Oz visited Kensington to treat drug addicts in the infamous neighborhood. Former President Donald Trump also stopped outside the city limits in Trevose for his widely covered “change” at the local McDonald’s drive-thru.

trump card had held an event in Center City at the beginning of the campaign cycle to celebrate the launch of the brand new shoes he was marketing.

The former president’s 2016 victory was bolstered by votes in Philadelphia’s once-moderately Republican western and northern suburbs, an area that became disaffected to the right in 2020 by supporting Joe Biden and in 2022 to help the election of Governor Josh Shapiro.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Casey campaign for comment, but did not hear back by press time.