Presidential bid not in the cards, says GOP Sen. Dave McCormick

Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) said Tuesday he doesn’t intend to run for president in 2028 or 2032 in an interview with Blue Light News’s Jonathan Martin.

“Where we are in our life, we have six daughters, I’m 60 years old, had a great private sector career,” McCormick said at Blue Light News’s AI & Tech Summit in Washington. “So this was the the penultimate chapter, the ability to make a difference.”

McCormick, who first ran for then-outgoing Sen. Pat Toomey’s seat in 2022, said losing the GOP primary that year to Dr. Mehmet Oz by less than 1,000 votes was “excruciatingly hard” but ultimately made him a stronger candidate. He then narrowly defeated then-Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) in 2024.

Prior to his first Senate run, McCormick — a military veteran who served in the George W. Bush administration — led Bridgewater Associates, one of the largest hedge funds in the world.

“I look back at my first campaign and some of the things, some of the the media hits, and I cringe,” he said. “I look at my second campaign and I’m like, ‘OK, that’s a guy who knows why he’s doing it, knows what he’s trying to get done.’ And so it was a blessing. I didn’t think so at the time, it was a blessing.”

The GOP senator has been an ally of President Donald Trump since he joined Congress earlier this year.

McCormick, who is married to former deputy national security adviser Dina Powell, said that his children were opposed to both his 2022 and 2024 Senate bids but that he ultimately considers it “a privilege” to be serving in Congress.