Casey and McCormick discuss fentanyl during the debate after the Blair County Sheriff speaks in the ad

BLAIR COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) – During Thursday night’s Senate debate between Bob Casey and Dave McCormick, both candidates spoke about the ongoing fentanyl crisis affecting Pennsylvania and the country.

Senator Casey was asked during the debate what he thought of McCormick’s campaign ad, in which he expressed how tragic the fentanyl crisis is for all families.

“I’ve met so many families across this state, whether it’s a sheriff in Blair County or a mother in Allegheny, this is a terrible tragedy for all families. That’s why we need to invest in the strategies we know work.” Casey said. “McCormick will not do that because he is weak due to political pressure from his own party. We can solve this problem by investing in technology and hiring thousands more border guards so we can search every car that crosses the border.”

McCormick, who said fentanyl in America is out of control, attacked Casey, claiming he voted against measures needed to control the border. In contrast, Casey said it is Senate Republicans who will not support a bill aimed at securing more resources and money for border control.

Their comments about the deadly drug came a month after McCormick released a campaign ad featuring Blair County Sheriff James Ott. In the ad, Ott spoke about his son Josh and his addiction to fentanyl, which ultimately took his life in 2020.

“Every time he got addicted and his disease took over, that wasn’t Josh. That wasn’t who we knew. It was all fentanyl,” Ott said in the ad.

Ott also criticized Senator Casey in the ad for not taking action to prevent the drug from entering the US through its borders.

“If Bob Casey and some of the other leaders of this country were going to do something, they would have done it by now,” Ott said in the ad. “I wear a hat as a law enforcement officer. In my thirty-year career, I have seen this entire epidemic spiral out of control. It is the responsibility of our elected officials to make things safer at our borders and go after the cartels and the poison fentanyl flooding this nation.”

According to the CDC, there were an estimated 74,702 deaths involving fentanyl in the US in 2023. Additionally, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says that 70% of illegal drugs seized contain fentanyl.