Gov. Josh Shapiro is defending Sen. Bob Casey’s pursuit of a recount in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro on Tuesday defended U.S. Sen. Bob Casey’s decision to recount, pointing to Republican Dave McCormick’s failed 2022 recount in a much closer election.

Shapiro is under pressure from Republicans at the state and national levels to intervene in the recount, and GOP leaders have called on Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor to order Casey to step down and end the effort, which is estimated to cost more than $1 million to complete.

Shapiro has no official authority to halt the recount because state law automatically triggers it if the margin is within 0.5% in a statewide race. Candidates can opt out of a recount if they believe it won’t change the outcome, and Casey declined to pursue that option last week.

“State law requires a recount if the election is within a certain margin,” Shapiro said Tuesday at an unrelated news conference in Philadelphia. “It is up to the candidates to decide whether they want to opt out of a recount. Senator Casey chose not to do so.

Shapiro also noted that McCormick did not waive a recount “when he was an unsuccessful Senate candidate two years ago,” losing the 2022 general election. GOP Senate most notably Mehmet Oz by less than 1,000 votes.

Shapiro’s comments are likely to irritate Republicans both in the state and across the country, who have already criticized Shapiro for not speaking out quickly enough against Democratic election boards voting to count undated ballots in defiance of legal precedent and for failing to follow Casey’s efforts to recount of votes.

“AP does not need to waste millions of tax dollars on a U.S. Senate recount that will not change the outcome on Election Day,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward (R., Westmoreland), the top Republican in the state Senate, wrote last week on X. “Protect our taxes and tell Senator Casey to stop. McCormick won.

On Tuesday, Casey trailed McCormick by more than 17,000 votes, or 0.25%. Counties must start counting by Wednesday, but the result is unlikely to change.

“This will happen again and again, and the most important thing is that the will of the people will be respected, that all votes will be counted and that ultimately the winner will be determined based on the will of the people,” Shapiro added.

The Associated Press called the race for McCormick’s seat more than a week ago, and the Republican attended orientation for fresh senators last week.

Republicans have not previously expressed concern about the possibility of automatic recounts in statewide races. Former Commonwealth Court Justice Drew Crompton, Republican, let the recount process play out in 2021 by a margin similar to Casey’s, though it didn’t change the results and he ultimately conceded to judge Lori Dumas.

Assembly pressures

Shapiro, a potential 2028 presidential candidate, has remained relatively reserved as the state’s vote-counting process has come under national scrutiny.

He faced criticism from Republicans, including: US Senator Tim Scott (R., SC) to Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley to state lawmakers – for their delayed response to Democrat-controlled boards of elections in Philadelphia, Bucks and Montgomery counties, which defied Pennsylvania Supreme Court rulings and voted last week to count undated absentee ballots.

“The idea that our governor and former attorney general would not make a statement about breaking the law because he is a member of his own party is very troubling and very disturbing to voters and all of Pennsylvania, so please stop because this election is over and there is no mathematical way to achieve what the Casey camp hopes to achieve,” U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser (R-Pennsylvania) said in a call with reporters on Monday.

Shortly thereafter, Shapiro broke his silence on the matter after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued a ruling directly ordering counties not to count the missing ballots. Shapiro criticized county officials for ignoring the court’s earlier guidance, but also accused the state Legislature of creating the situation by failing to update state election law.

“Any insinuation that our rights can be ignored or that they don’t matter is irresponsible and undermines faith in our electoral process,” Shapiro said. “It is critical that counties and officials on both sides honor this issue in both their rhetoric and actions.”

Staff writer Julia Terruso contributed to this article.