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Pennsylvania sheriff rips ‘weak’ Bob Casey’s record on fentanyl in scathing new McCormick ad: ‘My son would be alive today’

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Pennsylvania sheriff rips ‘weak’ Bob Casey’s record on fentanyl in scathing new McCormick ad: ‘My son would be alive today’


Republican Senate candidate Dave McCormick is taking aim at his Democratic opponent and tugging at Pennsylvania’s heartstrings in a new campaign ad showing the impact of fentanyl — and the open border policies that allow it to flow freely — on American families.

In the 30-second spot, Blair County Sheriff Jim Ott speaks solemnly into the camera, sharing his experience with fentanyl, not only as an officer of the law, but also as a bereaved father.

“Three high schoolers die from fentanyl every day. As a sheriff, I see it. As a father, it happened to me,” Ott said, while a piano played softly in the background.

Republican Senate candidate Dave McCormick took a shot at his opponent Bob Casey in a new campaign ad. Ethan Dodd / NY Post

Then comes the attack.

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“If the border was secure, chances are my son would be alive today,” Ott continued.

“We can’t bring back the people we’ve lost. But we can get rid of the weak politicians like Bob Casey who let it happen.”

Fentanyl killed 4,000 Pennsylvanians last year, and the McCormick campaign hopes to pin the drug epidemic and its death toll on Casey, a three-term incumbent who is leading in the polls. 

Record-breaking illegal immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border under the Biden administration has fueled GOP messaging, which highlights the role of lax border security as a culprit for fentanyl deaths.

The Ott ad is the latest shot fired in the Casey-McCormick race, a hotly contested battle in a major swing state where ad spending is predicted to break records this cycle.

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In July, Casey attacked McCormick, who was CEO of Bridgewater Associates when the company held a $1.7 million stake in China’s largest synthetic opiate manufacturer. McCormick fired back, calling Casey the “ultimate liar and hypocrite” when it turned out the senator holds a three-cent stake in the same company in his personal stock portfolio.

In a video posted by McCormick on his YouTube channel, Blair County Sheriff Jim Ott speaks out sharing his experience with fentanyl, not only as a sheriff, but also as a bereaved father who lost his son to a fentanyl overdose. YouTube / Dave McCormick

Now the fentanyl blame game has reached the southern border.

Last week, a PAC supporting McCormick ran an ad with the Beaver County sheriff tying “Casey’s open border policy” to fentanyl, drug dealers, and human traffickers. 

This week, there’s a new sheriff in town repping McCormick — and he’s not holding back.

“If I could talk to Senator Casey, if this happened in your family, wouldn’t you give as much as you could give? Wouldn’t you provide whatever is needed to make sure you gave the safety to try and stop it from coming into your home?” Ott said in a two-minute version of the ad.

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But other advocates fighting the fentanyl crisis don’t place the blame on Casey.

Bob Casey hosted the founder of Fentanyl Fathers, Gregory Swan, at his home along with other families affected by the fentanyl crisis to hear their stories. REUTERS

Last week Casey hosted Gregory Swan, the founder of Fentanyl Fathers, at his Pittsburgh home with other families affected by the fentanyl crisis to hear their stories.

Swan’s group, which educates America’s youth about the dangers of fentanyl, featured one of its surrogates in a commercial with Casey, and defended his record on the issue.

“In terms of the FEND Off Fentanyl Act, he got that through as a federal law. So he’s no lightweight when it comes to” fentanyl, Swan told The Post.

The law he refers to sanctions the manufacture and trafficking of illicit fentanyl and its precursors by Chinese criminal organizations and Mexican cartels.

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Still, Swan isn’t fully sold on Democrats’ policy solutions.

“The border is not secure. That’s an issue with us,” Swan said.

“Democrats are definitely the owners of the influx of migration, which has brought the drugs. You have a lot of people who are unvetted. It’s pouring, pouring in.”

Beyond stopping Chinese fentanyl precursors and prevention through awareness, Swan said, “You need someone with cojones to take care of the cartels.”

McCormick’s offered an aggressive solution, telling The Post: “We should identify the cartels as terrorist organizations,” and “use our military capacity,” to destroy them.”

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Neighbors say ‘hundreds of rats’ are running through their yards every night

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Neighbors say ‘hundreds of rats’ are running through their yards every night


ROSTRAVER TOWNSHIP, Pa. (KDKA/CNN NEWSOURCE/WKRC) — Residents of a western Pennsylvania neighborhood say they are battling a growing rat infestation that they believe originated from a condemned property where more than 100 pigs and other animals were recently removed.

Neighbors along Adams Drive in Rostraver Township say they have trapped and killed dozens of rats in recent weeks but continue to see large numbers of rodents around their homes.

Residents of a western Pennsylvania neighborhood say they are battling a growing rat infestation that they believe originated from a condemned property where more than 100 pigs and other animals were recently removed. (KDKA/CNN NEWSOURCE)

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“The smell’s better, but the rats are worse,” resident Erin McCay told KDKA.

Earlier this month, authorities and animal rescue groups removed dogs, cats and more than 100 pigs from the property. Investigators described conditions at the site as deplorable.

According to Pittsburgh Squealers Rescue, 105 pigs were removed from the property, and several later died due to alleged neglect.

The property, which operated as an animal sanctuary, has since been condemned and listed for sale.

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Township officials said they have contracted with a pest control company in an effort to eliminate the infestation. The one-year agreement is valued at approximately $12,000 and includes placing traps throughout the affected neighborhood.

Residents say the infestation has become a public safety concern, especially after dark.

“It’s definitely a public safety issue,” McCay said. “I want to feel safe being able to go in our yard and walk into the house.”

Township officials said they hope the rat population will begin to decline in the coming weeks.

Police said the investigation into conditions at the property remains active.

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6abc Loves the Arts: Historical Society of Pennsylvania Presents “Paths to Independence: 1765 to 1787” through Sept. 18

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6abc Loves the Arts: Historical Society of Pennsylvania Presents “Paths to Independence: 1765 to 1787” through Sept. 18


PHLADELPHIA (WPVI) — The Historical Society of Pennsylvania is celebrating the semi-quincentennial with a new exhibition that shows off some very rare documents that date to the founding of our nation.

“Paths to Independence: 1765 to 1787” documents America’s origin story in two parts.

“The exhibition looks at the decade of controversies and conflicts leading up to the Declaration of Independence,” says David Brigham, Librarian & CEO of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. “Why did we feel as American colonies that we needed to separate from Great Britain?”

And then the 11 years between the signing of the Declaration and the adoption of the Constitution.

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“The colonies have a lot of work to do,” says Brigham.

There are 141 pieces on view.

“They include original letters, journals, newspapers, broadsides,” he says. “And an incredible oil painting of a tea protest event that happened in Annapolis, Maryland in October of 1774.”

The artwork depicts the burning of the tea ship, Peggy Stewart.

“It’s been in a private home for generations,” he says. “This painting has not been seen in public possibly for 170 years.”

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Items are on display in seven cases.

“This case focuses on the Stamp Act, which is passed in the spring of 1765 by Parliament,” he says.

There’s a section on rising tensions in the 1770s, which includes the Battle of Lexington and Concord and the Boston Tea Party.

You can see what’s known as the Dunlap Broadside.

“This is an original printing of the Declaration of Independence,” he says.

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Just 200 were printed and only 26 survive.

Brigham says the one on display at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania is unique.

“We think it was Jefferson’s proof copy,” he says. “He would mark his speeches out with quotation marks where he intended to emphasize a phrase.”

Another case includes a first draft of the Articles of Confederation, which Brigham says is “the first attempt by Congress to write a Constitution of the United States.”

There is also a first newspaper printing of the Constitution of the United States. It was someone’s personal copy, complete with notes in the margin of the newspaper.

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Brigham says people of different social statuses and religions found their way to independence “for different reasons.”

“Sometimes the story’s flattened out into ‘good guys’ and ‘bad guys.’ That’s way too simple,” he says. “There was a lot of complexity and even in that 20-year period a lot of attitudes changed.”

“Paths to Independence: 1765 to 1787” is on view through September 18 at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. This exhibition is free and open to the public during regular library hours, but visitors must check in at the front desk.

Historical Society of Pennsylvania’s library hours:

Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Wednesday from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Closed Saturday – Monday

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Historical Society of Pennsylvania (HSP)
1300 Locust Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107

Copyright © 2026 WPVI-TV. All Rights Reserved.



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Thousands flock downtown for Juneteenth parade celebrating racial progress and end of slavery

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Thousands flock downtown for Juneteenth parade celebrating racial progress and end of slavery






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