The last race for the United States Senate in the 2024 cycle that has not yet been called is now heading for a recount, even as the Republican candidate has a decisive lead over the Democratic incumbent.
As the Daily Caller reports, the statewide recount in the Pennsylvania Senate race began on Wednesday, as challenger Dave McCormick (R-Penn.) leads Senator Bob Casey (D-Penn.) by about 28,000 votes.
Although Casey himself chose not to pursue a recount, Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt (D-Penn.) decided to order a recount anyway, as the margin between the two is less than the 0.5% threshold required for a recount.
The recount must begin by November 20th and finish by November 26th. However, it is widely expected that the outcome will not change and McCormick will successfully unseat Casey. McCormick has already attended his Senate orientation in Washington D.C., after outgoing Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) initially refused to let him attend due to the close margin.
The race has been called for McCormick by the Associated Press, NPR, and Fox News, as well as multiple statewide and local media outlets, while all other national outlets have refused to call it.
Spokesmen from both sides have accused the other campaign of trying to suppress voters before and during the recount. Adam Bonin, an attorney for Casey’s campaign, claimed that Republican activists are trying to hinder the counting of provisional ballots. McCormick advisor Mark Harris fired back by claiming that Democratic counties are deliberately slowing down the count by withholding processed ballot totals.
“This is clearly an effort to use lawfare to chip away at our lead,” said Harris.
“This is not going to work. Dave McCormick is the senator-elect and will be the senator.”
Some of the disputes during the count include an effort by Democratic officials in Bucks County to count over 400 mail-in ballots that lack handwritten dates, with Republicans suing to block the inclusion of these ballots.
Casey was first elected to the Senate in the blue wave of 2006, defeating Republican Senator Rick Santorum (R-Penn.). McCormick, a hedge fund manager, first tried to run for the Senate seat vacated by the retirement of Pat Toomey (R-Penn.) in 2022, only to narrowly lose the Republican primary to TV host Dr. Oz by less than 1,000 votes. McCormick was unchallenged in this year’s primary, and is set to become the only successful Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in the three critical Rust Belt states.
McCormick is one of four Republicans who successfully flipped a Democratic seat in the Senate this year, alongside Senators-elect Jim Justice (R-W.V.), Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), and Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.).
