Bob Casey will likely cast some of his final votes in Washington when the Pa. Senate. The votes are being recounted

WASHINGTON – Senator Bob Casey displayed his usual composed.

Reporters around The Pennsylvania Democrat, getting off the Senate underground tram to go to the polls, asked whether his refusal to concede the Senate race against Republican Dave McCormick was fostering distrust in the election.

He laughed. “We are counting the votes and the recount is underway,” he said. “So we’ll see what it shows.”

Two floors up, Senate GOP leaders gathered for a news conference during which Sen. Steve Daines (R., Mont.) condemned his colleague.

“I have a simple message for Chuck Schumer and Bob Casey: it’s over. Dave McCormick will be the next U.S. senator from Pennsylvania. “Senator Casey took election denial to another level, but it didn’t work,” said Daines, who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee these elections.

For Casey, who has served in the Senate for 18 years, his long tenure could likely end in a slow and chaotic march toward defeat.

The Associated Press called the race for McCormick on November 7, but Casey had not yet awarded points and the lead was narrow enough to trigger an automatic recount. Counties must begin the count on Wednesday and have until Nov. 26 to complete it.

As most precincts had completed their preliminary vote counting by Wednesday, Casey was losing by about 16,500 voteswhile the fate of approximately 2,300 provisional ballots across the state remains decided in court.

The recount and ongoing legal battles have led to widespread criticism of Casey from Republicans who claim Democrats are trying to steal the seat by counting “illegal votes.” Democrats say Republicans are trying to block legally cast votes.

“The recount is going nowhere, and as is typical of recounts, there is virtually no change in the results,” said McCormick campaign spokeswoman Elizabeth Gregory. in a press release Tuesday that showed recount results from four compact counties added just four net votes to Casey’s vote total.

Asked if he would concede before the recount was completed if he found there was no path to victory, Casey responded noncommittally.

“The recount has started, so it needs to be completed… and we’ll see what it shows.”

Absentee ballots and provisional ballots

Much of the dispute centered around undated or misdated absentee ballots, which the state Supreme Court confirmed Monday should not be counted.

The 4-3 ruling, sought by the GOP and opposed by Casey’s campaign, followed actions by election officials in some Democratic-controlled counties to count ballots even though the Supreme Court ordered them to reject those votes earlier in the year.

Monday’s court ruling, which applies to all counties, expressly excluded just over 1,500 undated or misdated ballots by election officials in Philadelphia, Bucks, Montgomery, Center and Monroe counties who voted to include them in final returns last week.

While the decision resolves how undated ballots will be treated this year, the longer legal battle may not be over yet because the court has not yet weighed in on the pivotal issue of whether to reject undated ballots because of what Democrats describe as a detail technical, constitutes a violation of the rights guaranteed to voters by the state constitution.

“In my opinion, the state Supreme Court should decide on the constitutionality of it, which it hasn’t yet,” Casey said in Washington. “But I hope it happens because it’s an important question about whether voters will be disenfranchised.

Meanwhile, court hearings will be held this week in counties across the state, with both sides challenging other small tranches of provisional ballots. However, these fights are unlikely to have a dramatic impact on the state of the race.

McCormick sought to exclude more than 2,000 provisional ballots that lacked the required signatures of voters or election workers and that election officials in 10 Pennsylvania counties voted to include in their returns anyway. As of Wednesday morning, courts had ruled against him by more than half, according to an Inquirer analysis of court records.

Meanwhile, Casey fought to include an additional 3,300 provisional ballots across the state – mostly those that were missing sealed envelopes or had other procedural errors. But a Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas judge ruled against him Tuesday in an appeal involving the largest batch of those votes – more than 2,000 defective Philadelphia ballots that the city’s board of commissioners voted to exclude last week.

Regardless of how the courts rule in any of the remaining cases, the numbers in question alone will not be enough to make up for Casey’s current deficit in the race. And in the halls of Congress, Senate Democrats were hesitant to consider Casey’s legacy before the recount was completed.

“Bob Casey has consistently fought for working people in Pennsylvania,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who serves with Casey on the Senate Committee on Aging. “It’s an honor to work with him and I’m writing this in the present tense.”

Republicans were more determined to get a 53rd senator in McCormick.

“I think Dave will do a really good job,” said Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who also participates in the Aging program that Casey chairs. “I’m a businessman, so I think the more business people who come here, the better it will be. I am excited to serve with him.”

For Casey, whose father was governor of Pennsylvania and who spent most of his career in government – first as auditor general and then as treasurer before being elected to the Senate – this week could have been one of his last as he boards the elevator and goes back and forth to cast votes. as a senator. But when asked about it, he said it didn’t bother him.

“I feel great,” he said as the elevator doors closed.

Staff writer Jeremy Roebuck contributed to this article.