Dave McCormick joins Republican chorus calling for local judge to resign

Republican Senate candidate Dave McCormick has joined a group of Republican lawmakers calling for the removal of a Pittsburgh district judge. Xander Orenstein when he bemoaned progressive politics and its effect on crime.

On Tuesday, McCormick held a press conference in Mooney with members of the police union, local Republicans and conservative commentator Ben Shapiro. He criticized the local violent crime scene and said the city of Pittsburgh’s violent crime rate is up from pre-pandemic levels.

“When will this madness end? These soft-on-crime prosecutors, these soft-on-crime judges, radical policies like cashless bail, they put lives at risk. And they’re putting our communities at risk,” McCormick said.

Pittsburgh had 39 homicides this year, down from 59 in 2022.

This year’s homicide rate is up from 2019, the year before the pandemic began, but is significantly lower than most years before the pandemic. There were 56 murders in the city in 2018, 57 in 2017, and 59 in 2016.

McCormick joined a group of local Republicans calling for Orenstein’s resignation.

Allegheny County Councilman Sam DeMarco, who also chairs the county’s GOP committee, said last week that Orenstein should resign after the death of Benjamin Brallier, 44, a civilian Pennsylvania State Police trooper who was jogging on the Montour Trail in Moonee. .

McCormick’s press conference was held on Montour Trail, and he said Orenstein should be fired unless he “resigns in disgrace.” He cited Orenstein’s support for policies such as non-monetary bonds as the reason for Bralier’s murder.

“This is not the first time Judge Orenstein has used progressive politics, and if we fail to act, we will see more preventable deaths,” McCormick said.

But the murder suspect was initially recommended for non-cash bail and released by the court before Orenstein released him.

Police detained Anthony Quesen25-year-old homeless man and charged with murder, and local Republicans question whether Quesen should have been released from prison at all and blamed Orenstein for releasing him on non-cash bail in June 2023 in the case of simple attack

That June case involved Quensen struggling with a man and yanking his FitBit watch from his wrist before running from authorities and jumping into the Allegheny River, the criminal complaint said.

According to court documents, Quesen underwent a psychiatric evaluation and was arraigned nine days after the June 2023 incident. The court’s pretrial services division recommended that he be released without bail if he continues to receive mental health treatment and has no contact with the victim and her family, court records show.

Oreinstein did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

McCormick’s press conference comes at a time when he is in a tight race against the incumbent Democratic senator. Bob Casey. Polls have shown Casey slightly up in the race, but McCormick is closing the gap as Election Day nears.

Dave McCormick on Trump’s claims of widespread vote fraud in Pennsylvania. He wouldn’t commit to saying there was widespread voter fraud, instead citing news of registration fraud in Lancaster and unconfirmed reports in York as “something going on, but he doesn’t know the details yet.” pic.twitter.com/4lVsGdD4eL

— Ryan Deto (@RyanDeto) October 29, 2024

Hoping to boost his profile, McCormick brought conservative commentator and author Ben Shapiro to the event.

Shapiro said he was motivated to help McCormick flip the Senate seat.

“Dave McCormick should be a senator from Pennsylvania,” Shapiro said. “These terrible events are local symptoms of national problems. These policies are made in Washington, D.C. by rubber stamps for the Biden-Harris agenda like Bob Casey.”

McCormick tried to link the crime and his criticism of Orenstein to Casey.

“Where’s Bob Casey? Did he say a single word about killing that officer? Did he condemn such a progressive policy as cashless bail? No, McCormick said.

Tanisha Cameron, spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, said McCormick was simply trying to distract from his own history. She said he wasn’t truthful lives in Connecticut running in Pennsylvania, he did not address his record of laying off hundreds of Pittsburgh workers while in office FreeMarkets companiesor failed to articulate his opposition to Roe V. Wade’s abortion rights

“David McCormick’s disastrous track record of prioritizing himself and his bottom line over the people of Pennsylvania is disqualifying,” Cameron said.