WASHINGTON — A conservative group funded by billionaire industrialists Charles Koch and his late brother David has endorsed state Rep. Rob Mercuri in his bid for the Republican nomination in Western Pennsylvania’s 17th Congressional District.

Americans for Prosperity Action, which in May received $25 million from Koch Industries, backed Mr. Mercuri over the Rev. Jim Nelson, the senior pastor of New Birth Ministries in Duquesne. The winner of next year’s Republican primary would take on freshman U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Aspinwall. 

“Earlier this year, AFP Action promised to get involved in more primaries and more races than ever before, because our nation is at a crossroads and we need to elect strong candidates to get our country back on track,” said Nathan Nascimento, director of AFP Action. 

The group, which supports lower taxes, federal spending cuts, and less regulation, also endorsed former hedge fund CEO David McCormick, who launched his U.S. Senate campaign earlier this month. 

Benjamin Kail

State Rep. Rob Mercuri announces bid for Congress against incumbent Chris Deluzio

AFP was a strong supporter of unsuccessful efforts by then-President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which the Congressional Budget Office said would have left an additional 24 million Americans without health insurance,

In other Washington news:

Fetterman pushes to cancel school lunch debt

U.S. Sen. John Fetterman has joined some of his fellow Democrats in introducing legislation to cancel students’ lunch debt.

“‘School lunch debt’ is a term so absurd that it shouldn’t even exist,” said Mr. Fetterman, chair of the Senate Agriculture subcommittee on food and nutrition.

During the pandemic, the federal government provided free lunch for school children. Even though the program has expired, schools do not turn away hungry children but rather seek to collect payment later, Mr. Fetterman’s office said.

More than 30 million children in the U.S. can’t afford to pay for their lunch, running up a debt of $262 million a year, Mr. Fetterman’s office said. That includes almost 500,000 school children In Pennsylvania with a debt of almost $80 million.

Mr. Fetterman, D-Pa., introduced the bill with U.S. Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Peter Welch, D-Vt.

Benjamin Kail and Jonathan D. Salant

Chris Deluzio represents Western Pa.'s only swing district. It's not denting his progressive streak.

Pennsylvania Republicans quickly line up behind David McCormick

Mr. McCormick, who announced a run for U.S. Sen. Bob Casey’s seat last week, quickly received broad support from Pennsylvania’s top elected Republicans. 

All eight GOP members of the state’s congressional delegation and almost two dozen Republicans in the General Assembly endorsed Mr. McCormick’s second try for the U.S. Senate. He narrowly lost a primary to celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz last year for the seat vacated by Republican Pat Toomey, who did not seek re-election. Dr. Oz went on to lose to Mr. Fetterman.

Mr. McCormick’s campaign said the endorsements came from “across the ideological spectrum,” though they did not include his previous primary opponents Dr. Oz or Kathy Barnette, nor far-right state Sen. Doug Mastriano, who chose not to run for Mr. Casey’s seat after months of consideration. 

Mr. Mastriano came close to endorsing Mr. McCormick, an Army veteran and former George W. Bush administration official, in a recent interview with the right-wing Real America’s Voice. He described Mr. Casey as “lazy” and urged Republicans to rally behind Mr. McCormick.

Along with the elected leaders, Andy Reilly and Christine Torretti, Pennsylvania members on the Republican National Committee, and former state GOP chairman Rob Gleason also endorsed Mr. McCormick. 

And even Sean Parnell, whom Mr. Trump initially endorsed for the open Senate seat last year but withdrew from the race after his estranged wife accused him of spousal and child abuse, expressed support for Mr. McCormick. He said the party “is unified“ and “we are rolling into 2024 laser-focused on winning.

Mr. Casey, the son of a former governor and a former state auditor general and treasurer, is a three-term incumbent. The 63-year-old Democrat has lost only one statewide race, a gubernatorial primary to Ed Rendell, and has won each of his Senate bids by at least nine percentage points. 

Jonathan D. Salant, jsalant@post-gazette.com, @JDSalant; Benjamin Kail: bkail@post-gazette.com, @BenKail

First Published: September 28, 2023, 2:48 p.m.
Updated: September 28, 2023, 6:11 p.m.