Pennsylvania Senate Race Updates: Bob Casey, David McCormick Counting Enters Day 3

HARRISBURG, Pa. (WPVI) — Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate race between Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and Republican challenger David McCormick could help Republicans polish their newfound majority in the chamber in a battleground state contest that is one of the nation’s costliest this year.

As of Wednesday night, McCormick led by about 30,000 votes, but a significant number remained uncounted and the race is still too close to call.

The Casey campaign said with thousands of provisional ballots left to count, they are confident he will be re-elected.

A source told Action News that the McCormick campaign, however, is focused on a number of ballots remaining to be counted in Cambria County. They believe that those votes will ensure his victory.

At Casey’s election night party at a hotel in his hometown of Scranton, Mayor Paige Cognetti, a Casey ally, expressed confidence that Casey would ultimately win when all the votes were counted.

“This could take a few days. We said it took a few days in 2020. We have to make sure we set expectations, it could be a little bit,” Cognetti said.

But she asked partygoers to go home just before midnight, hoping the result would be clear on Wednesday.

Casey also addressed the crowd, saying, “Every single vote will be counted. No matter how long it takes.”

His campaign later released a statement that read in part:

“There are more votes to be counted in areas like Philadelphia, and it is important that every legal ballot is counted. When that happens, we are confident that the senator will be re-elected.”

McCormick also addressed his supporters in Pittsburgh on Tuesday night, though he did not declare victory.

“We need leadership, we don’t have it, and we will get it,” he said.

Casey, perhaps Pennsylvania’s best-known politician and the son of a former two-term governor, is seeking a fourth term after facing what he has called his toughest re-election challenge yet.

Casey, 64, is a stalwart of the state Democratic Party, having won six statewide elections dating back to 1996, including serving as state auditor general and treasurer.

McCormick, 59, is running for a second term in the Senate after narrowly losing to Dr. Mehmet Oz in the 2022 Republican primary. He left his job as CEO of the world’s largest hedge fund to run after serving at the highest levels of former President George W. Bush’s administration and serving on Trump’s Defense Advisory Board.

The race ran on national themes, from abortion rights to inflation. But it also lit up locals, such as Casey’s accusation that McCormick is a rich carpetbagger from Connecticut’s ritzy “Gold Coast”—a caricature McCormick helped bring to life by mispronouncing the name of one of Pennsylvania’s local beers—who tried to buy Pennsylvania’s beer. Senate seat.

Casey also attacked McCormick’s hedge fund days, accusing him of getting rich at America’s expense by investing in Chinese companies that make fentanyl and built Beijing’s military.

McCormick, in turn, emphasized his seventh-generation Pennsylvania roots, talking about his high school days wrestling in northern Pennsylvania towns — a sport that took him to the U.S. military academy at West Point — and his time running online auction house FreeMarkets Inc. ., who had his name on a skyscraper in Pittsburgh during the tech boom.

Live Election 2024 updates in the Philadelphia region and focus on Pennsylvania

Casey, a staunch ally of unions and President Joe Biden, has campaigned to preserve the middle class, abortion rights, labor rights and voting rights, calling McCormick and President-elect Donald Trump a threat to all of them.

McCormick, in turn, accused Casey of branding the Biden administration’s policies on the border, the economy, energy and national security, which he blames for inflation, domestic unrest and war. He has attacked Casey as a weak, out-of-touch career politician and a sure bet to fall in line with Vice President Kamala Harris had she become president.

Should McCormick win, he would be part of the red wave responsible for winning the U.S. Senate.

David Barrett, a political science professor at Villanova, talked about the impact of Republicans taking control of the Senate.

“The real bottom line is that a determined president who wants to do things can do those things very likely if he has strong support, if he has a House and a Senate in his political party,” Barrett explained.

He also said he’s not surprised by how close the race is, pointing to polls that predicted this as well as commercials.

“I saw a lot of the McCormick commercials really, really bashing Senator Casey, and I had a feeling that Casey didn’t respond adequately in kind,” Barrett said.

The race can lead to a recount if it is decided by half a percentage point or less.