David McCormick, Republican U.S. Senate candidate from Pennsylvania, speaks at a campaign rally for Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump at Butler Farm Show Inc. on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Republican Dave McCormick appeared to win a major upset victory in Pennsylvania, beating three-term incumbent Bob Casey, which would give the GOP a key win in the U.S. Senate, where it now holds 53 seats.
The Associated Press called the race on Thursday shortly after 4 p.m. with McCormick leading by 30,919 votes, or 0.46%.
“While votes continue to be counted, any way you slice it, Dave McCormick will be the next United States Senator from Pennsylvania,” Elizabeth Gregory, McCormick communications director said in a statement Thursday ahead of the AP call.
But Casey did not concede on Thursday afternoon. His campaign sent a statement with a social media post from Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt that reads “Every legitimate vote must be counted in every election, we ask for patience as county election officials continue the work of counting ballots here in Pennsylvania. Election Day is the start of counting ballots here in the Commonwealth.”
Casey campaign spokesperson Maddy McDaniel said the race was not yet over.
“As the Pennsylvania Secretary of State said this afternoon, there are tens of thousands of ballots across the Commonwealth still to count, which includes provisional ballots, military and overseas ballots, and mail ballots,” McDaniel said in a statement. “This race is within half a point and cannot be called while the votes of thousands of Pennsylvanians are still being counted. We will make sure every Pennsylvanian’s voice is heard.”
If the current margin holds, or remains at or under 0.5%, it would trigger a recount under Pennsylvania law.
Schmidt said in a statement shortly after 5 p.m. Thursday that there were “at least 100,000 ballots remaining to be adjudicated, including provisional, military, overseas, and Election Day votes” and again urged patience “especially in contests where the margins are very close.”
McCormick, a former hedge fund manager who served in former President George W. Bush’s administration, contributed more than $4 million of his own money to his campaign, and was endorsed by President-elect Donald Trump early on in the campaign. He frequently appeared with the GOP candidate for president at rallies in Pennsylvania, including one in Butler in July where Trump was shot in an assassination attempt.
In 2022, McCormick lost the GOP primary to Mehmet Oz, who went on to lose to Democrat John Fetterman in the general election.
The AP noted that Casey performed worse in every region of Pennsylvania than he did in 2018, when he won reelection to a third term, beating former U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta 55.74% to 42.62%
McCormick’s victory means that Republicans in Pennsylvania won the presidency and all of the races for statewide office. The GOP also picked up two Pennsylvania U.S. House seats, with Reps. Susan Wild (D-7th District) and Matt Cartwright (D-8th District) both conceding on Wednesday. The AP called both races on Thursday.
The win is the first time in the 21st century that Republicans won the presidency and all of Pennsylvania’s statewide row offices in the same year.
Pennsylvania Capital-Star is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Pennsylvania Capital-Star maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kim Lyons for questions: info@penncapital-star.com. Follow Pennsylvania Capital-Star on Facebook and X.
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