HARRISBURG — In a fight for his political life, Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey is abandoning a major international trade deal that has emerged as a divisive campaign issue.
Announcing his opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement puts the Pennsylvania senator more in line with labor unions and Democrats, including his challenger, Katie McGinty, who say the deal will drain jobs from the U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and her Republican rival, Donald Trump, have opposed it, too.
However, it puts Toomey out of step with Republican Senate leaders and a major Toomey backer, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, on the deal involving the U.S. and 11 other Pacific rim countries, including Australia, Canada, Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam.
Polls show a neck-and-neck race between the first-term Toomey and McGinty, who has held various high-ranking posts in state and federal government. Millions of dollars in TV ads by outside groups are pouring into the contest, which could tip control of the chamber in the Nov. 8 election.
McGinty’s campaign quickly called Toomey’s opposition to the TPP a “flip flop” on a career spent supporting free-market principles and international trade deals.
