Pennsylvania’s Senate race moved to a recount as Senator-elect Dave McCormick (R) continues to hold a lead over incumbent Sen. Bob Casey (D).
Al Schmidt, the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania revealed on Wednesday that the results in the race between Casey and McCormick had “triggered a legally required statewide recount,” according to a press release from the Pennsylvania Department of State.
The recount is slated to begin “no later than” November 20, 2024, and counties “must complete the recount by noon” on November 26, 2024, and have the results reported to the Secretary of the Commonwealth by noon the following day.
Unofficial returns for Pennsylvania’s Senate race found that McCormick received 3,380,310 votes, or 48.93 percent of the vote, while Casey received 3,350,972 votes, or 48.50 percent of the vote, according to the press release.
The press release continued:
Senator Bob Casey and Dave McCormick have vote totals within the one-half of 1 percent margin that triggers a mandatory recount under state law.
NEW: Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt says unofficial results in U.S. Senate race have triggered a legally required statewide recount.
— Andrew Stockey (@astockeyWTAE) November 13, 2024
Sen. Bob Casey and Dave McCormick have vote totals within the one-half of 1% margin triggering a mandatory recount under state law.
The recount comes as McCormick has continued to maintain a lead over Casey in Pennsylvania’s Senate race, and as several outlets such as the Associated Press (AP) have called the race in McCormick’s favor.
Casey has continued to refuse to concede the election to McCormick, stating that election officials should “finish counting” the votes.
On Tuesday, McCormick attended the Senate orientation after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) previously refused to allow McCormick to attend the orientation.
So honored to be here at Senate Orientation. Grateful to the people of Pennsylvania for placing their trust in me. I will fight everyday for every Pennsylvanian. pic.twitter.com/0nRwEp7TYF
— Dave McCormick (@DaveMcCormickPA) November 12, 2024
Schumer received criticism from Republican senators such as Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) for his refusal to allow McCormick to attend Senate orientation as Casey continued to refuse to concede the race.