Quick Hit:

Republican Senate candidate Dave McCormick has launched a new ad targeting incumbent Democrat Senator Bob Casey's record on fentanyl and border security. Blair County Sheriff Jim Ott, featured in the ad, shares his personal tragedy, blaming open border policies for the rise in fentanyl-related deaths, including his own son's.

Key Details:

Blair County Sheriff Jim Ott stars in a McCormick campaign ad, stating that secure borders could have saved his son from a fentanyl overdose.
Ott criticizes Democratic Sen. Bob Casey for failing to secure the border, saying it has allowed fentanyl to flow into the U.S.
The ad comes as the Pennsylvania Senate race heats up, with a new CNN poll Wednesday showing McCormick and Casey tied with 46% support each.

Diving Deeper:

In a new campaign ad, Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate Dave McCormick is directly targeting his Democratic opponent, Sen. Bob Casey, for his handling of the fentanyl crisis. In the ad, Blair County Sheriff Jim Ott shares his personal tragedy of losing his son to fentanyl, while highlighting the role of lax border security in contributing to the drug's spread across America.

"Three high schoolers die from fentanyl every day. As a sheriff, I see it. As a father, it happened to me," Ott says in the 30-second spot. The sheriff doesn't mince words, laying blame squarely on the shoulders of Casey and what he describes as weak border policies. "If the border was secure, chances are my son would be alive today."

The battle over fentanyl has now shifted focus to the southern border. Last week, a pro-McCormick PAC ran an ad featuring another Pennsylvania sheriff blaming "Casey's open border policy" for enabling fentanyl trafficking. Sheriff Ott’s ad continues the offensive, asking pointedly, "If this happened in your family, wouldn't you give as much as you could to stop it?"