Republican Dave McCormick appeared to have scored a major upset in Pennsylvania, defeating three-term incumbent Bob Casey. A victory would give the GOP a key victory in the U.S. Senate, where it currently holds 53 seats. The The Associated Press called the race on Thursday just after 4 p.m., with McCormick leading by 30,919 votes, or 0.46%.
But Casey didn’t budge.
“I have dedicated my life to making sure the voices of Pennsylvanians are heard, whether in the Senate or in a free and fair election,” Casey said in a statement Thursday evening. “It has become clear that there are still over 100,000 votes left to be counted. It was in Pennsylvania that our democratic process was born. We must allow this process to continue and ensure that every vote that qualifies to be counted is counted. This is what Pennsylvania deserves.”
McCormick thanked the WA fans social media post on Thursday he said he “looks forward to representing every citizen of our great Commonwealth.”
The Casey campaign posted statement along with a social media post from Commonwealth Secretary Al Schmidt, which reads: “Every legitimate vote must be counted at every election. Please be patient as county election officials continue their work counting ballots here in Pennsylvania. Election Day marks the beginning of vote counting here in the Commonwealth.”
Casey campaign spokeswoman Maddy McDaniel said the race is not over yet.
“As the Pennsylvania Secretary of State said this afternoon, there are tens of thousands of ballots still to be counted across the Commonwealth, including provisional ballots, military and overseas ballots, and absentee ballots,” McDaniel said in a statement. “This race is a half-point contest and cannot be called until the votes of thousands of Pennsylvanians are counted. We will make sure the voice of every Pennsylvanian is heard.”
If the current margin is or remains at or below 0.5%, this will trigger a recalculation in accordance with Pennsylvania law.
“While votes will continue to be counted regardless of how they are apportioned, Dave McCormick will become the next United States Senator from Pennsylvania,” Elizabeth Gregory, McCormick’s communications director, said in a statement Thursday before the AP call.
Schmidt said in a statement shortly after 5 p.m. on Thursday, he announced that “at least 100,000 ballots remain to be processed, including provisional, military, foreign and Election Day votes” and again urged patience “especially in contests where the margins are very close.”
Outside candidates can also influence the final outcome of the race; from 6 p.m. on Thursday State election website shown Libertarian Party candidate John C. Thomas with 87,706 votes or 1.29%, Green Party candidate Leila Hazou with 64,088 votes or 0.94% and Constitution Party candidate Marty Selker with 23,072 votes or 0.34%. The difference between McCormick’s 3,340,649 votes and Casey’s 3,308,691 votes at 6 p.m. was 31,958 votes.
McCormick, who served in former President George W. Bush’s administration, criticized Casey for his close relationship with Biden and his history of voting with the president’s agenda most of the time, and tried to portray the incumbent as “weak.” In 2022, McCormick lost the GOP primary for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania to Mehmet Oz, who then lost the general election to Democrat John Fetterman.
Democrats criticized the AP on Thursday for calling the race with so many votes left to count, and pointed to a recount of the 2022 GOP primary in which McCormick lost by less than 1,000 votes. His lawyers argued in court that undated absentee ballots should be included in the results.
The requirement for voters to date their mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania has become a point of contention since the law was changed ahead of the 2020 election, but the state Supreme Court said in a Nov. 1 ruling that the requirement would still apply to the ballots to vote cast in the 2024 elections.
The requirement to post a date on absentee ballots will remain in place after the Pa. Supreme Court ruling
“We still have tens of thousands of votes to count throughout the Republic of Poland.” Fetterman made the announcement Thursday in a social media postadding that the AP “should not declare entry in this race until the votes of every Pennsylvanian have been counted.”
McCormick, a former hedge fund manager, contributed more than $4 million of his own money to his campaign and won the endorsement of President-elect Donald Trump early in the campaign. He frequently appeared with the GOP presidential candidate at rallies in Pennsylvania, including rallies in Butler in July, where Trump was shot and killed.
Casey, whose family has deep roots in the Commonwealth and who shares Scranton ties with President Joe Biden, was first elected to the Senate in 2006. He is the longest-serving Democratic U.S. senator in Pennsylvania history.
Neither Casey nor McCormick faced earnest competition in the primary, so the two were opposed to each other for much of the year.
The Republican National Committee congratulated McCormick on Thursday. “As a combat veteran, business leader and national security expert, the senator-elect will be a great advocate for Americans in the Keystone State and a partner with President Trump in making America great again,” RNC Chairman Michael Whatley said in a statement.
National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Steve Daines said in a statement that McCormick “has ended a political dynasty and will now use his considerable skills to bring bold new leadership to the United States Senate on behalf of all Pennsylvanians.”
The AP noted that Casey performed worse in every region of Pennsylvania than in 2018, when was re-elected for a third termdefeating former US representative Lou Barletta 55.74% to 42.62%
McCormick’s victory means Pennsylvania Republicans won the presidential election and all statewide races for office. The Republican Party also won two seats in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, with Reps. Susan Wild (District 7) and Matt Cartwright (District 8) resigning on Wednesday. The AP called both races on Thursday.
This victory marks the first time in the 21st century that Republicans won the presidency and every statewide office in Pennsylvania in the same year.
This article was updated on November 7, 2024 at 7:25 p.m. with Casey’s statement.
