Pennsylvania GOP Senate candidate touts endorsement from accused domestic abuser

Last week, Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dave McCormick gained an endorsement from Sean Parnell, one of his former competitors in the Republican primary campaign.

McCormick — a Republican former hedge fund CEO who up until recently lived in Connecticut — is running to replace Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA), who is retiring this year.

“Incredibly thankful for the support of fellow patriot @SeanParnellUSA,” McCormick tweeted on Saturday. “After fighting for our country in the military, we’re ready to fight to take our country back. America First, always.”

Last Thursday, Parnell told Fox News that he had “total confidence” that his former competitor “will fight for Pennsylvanians and never back down to the woke mob.”

But Parnell was not always a fan of McCormick. In early November, Parnell favorited several tweets dismissing McCormick as “a banker from James Comey’s hedge fund,” a “neocon America last RINO [Republican In Name Only],” and a “Bush-era establishment guy.”

Parnell earned former President Donald Trump’s endorsement in the primary election. But like Trump, Parnell has faced serious accusations of abusive behavior, and he ended his primary bid last November. Both Parnell and Trump have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

Parnell’s estranged wife, Laurie Snell, has accused Parnell of verbally and physically abusing her. Parnell suspended his Senate campaign in November, hours after a judge denied his request to gain custody of his and Snell’s three children.

In October, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that Parnell sought to seal custody records after Snell filed “protection-from-abuse orders” against him. Snell told a family court judge that Parnell had been verbally and physically abusive to her and some of their children.

Butler County Senior Judge James Arner wrote in his custody decision that Parnell “did commit some acts of abuse in the past,” and said that Parnell was “somewhat evasive” in his testimony.

Parnell called these claims “lies” and suspended his Senate campaign shortly thereafter.

McCormick still faces several other Republican candidates in his race for the GOP nomination, and political analysts rate the race as a “toss-up.”

Multiple prominent Democratic candidates have also joined the race, hoping to win the open seat in a state President Joe Biden carried in 2020.

A McCormick spokesperson did not immediately respond to an inquiry for this story.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.