Dave McCormick spent $37,000 on his private planes while campaigning for US Senate

McCormick co-owns four Pilatus PC-12s through a fractional ownership program. Memberships start at $345,000 per year with an additional $6,540 monthly management fee according to an industry website.

Campaign finance reports show that former hedge fund manager and Republican US Senate candidate Dave McCormick spent over $37,000 flying around Pennsylvania on his private jets throughout the final quarter of 2023. 

Vanity Fair reported in September that McCormick took a private plane from his home in Connecticut to Harrisburg to meet with legislators in the Pennsylvania State Capitol prior to officially launching his Senate campaign. 

The outlet went on to report that McCormick co-owns four Pilatus PC-12s through PlaneSense, a fractional aircraft ownership company based in Portsmouth, NH. Business Jet Traveler, an aviation and lifestyle publication, states that a fractional program for the PC-12 starts at $354,000 per year plus $1,189 per hour and a $6,540 monthly management fee.  

McCormick’s expenditures show that he used his private aircraft at least 11 times in the final few months of 2023, costing him around $37,300.

Questions about McCormick’s residence have been raised throughout the campaign and they were raised when Vanity Fair published their article in September. 

Maddy McDaniel, communications director for US Sen. Bob Casey’s reelection campaign, told Vanity Fair  that McCormick “won’t be able to fool Pennsylvanians about where he really lives or his record of enriching himself and his Wall Street friends at their expense.”

The Associated Press reported in August that McCormick rented a $16 million mansion with a 1,500-bottle wine cellar and a private beachfront resort in Connecticut’s Gold Coast, which has the highest concentration of wealth in the country, while serving as the President and CEO of Bridgewater Associates, one of the world’s largest hedge funds. 

Other notable highlights from McCormick’s campaign finance reports include the roughly $205,000 paid to Coldspark, his campaign’s consulting firm, which is facing a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a former employee 

Politico reported the employee was allegedly touched inappropriately at a holiday party and was forced to quit due to a toxic work environment.

McCormick also spent a little over $8,000 at two hotels in New York City a few days before the start of the annual Pennsylvania Society. That includes 6,653.34 at the Loews Regency and $1,388.11 at the Four Seasons.