McCormick ousts incumbent Bob Casey in Pa. Senate race

GOP businessman Dave McCormick has ousted Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey, toppling a three-term incumbent he’d relentlessly attacked as ineffectual and weak.

The Associated Press called the race at 4:16 p.m. Thursday, with 98.68% of the vote in. McCormick at that time unofficially had 3,339,133 votes, or 48.9%, to Casey's 3,308,214 votes, or 48.5%.

McCormick wrote on social media that he's "looking forward to representing every citizen of our great Commonwealth."

The Pennsylvania GOP swiftly congratulated McCormick, saying that he'll be a "a voice for all Pennsylvanians, standing up for what matters most to our communities and ensuring our Commonwealth’s values are heard on the national stage."

Despite the AP call, Casey did not appear ready to concede defeat; his campaign noted Thursday afternoon that many provisional, military and overseas ballots had yet to be counted and that the vote margins were within the 0.5 percentage points needed to trigger an automatic statewide recount. Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt estimated that about 100,000 ballots remain to be tallied statewide, according to a Thursday afternoon statement.

"This race is within half a point and cannot be called while the votes of thousands of Pennsylvanians are still being counted," campaign spokesperson Maddy McDaniel said in a statement. "We will make sure every Pennsylvanian’s voice is heard."

Earlier: McCormick holds slight lead over Casey in Pa. as counting continues in Senate race

Democratic Sen. John Fetterman, Pennsylvania's junior senator, put it more bluntly in a post on X, calling on Republicans to "chill the F out" while votes are still being tallied.

If the contest goes to a statewide recount, the commonwealth's secretary of state would have to order it by Nov. 14, and it would have to be completed by Nov. 26, according to this year's election calendar.

McCormick prevailed by chipping away at his opponent's significant advantages: his decades of campaigning across the commonwealth for decades and a name that has been prominent in Pennsylvania politics for generations. The Republican sought to turn these assets into liabilities, suggesting the Democrat had become too steeped in D.C. politics and had lost touch with everyday people.

The race drew national attention for its potential to flip a seat from blue to red in the Senate, where Democrats have enjoyed a slim majority. Republicans had already won a majority in the chamber even before toppling Casey, but the victory will help shore up their advantage.

McCormick, a West Point graduate and Gulf War veteran, ran as a D.C. outsider willing to shake up the establishment, contrasting himself with Casey, who has occupied the Pennsylvania Senate seat for 18 years. This is his first foray into an elected role, having spent his much of his career in business as head of a Pittsburgh software company and later as CEO of the world’s largest hedge fund.

To take down Casey, who had sailed to victory in past reelection contests, McCormick hammered the incumbent as responsible for the inflation that has been saddling Pennsylvanians. His attacks also centered on the crisis at the southern border, and he charged Casey with failing to stop the flow of illegal drugs into the U.S. and into Pennsylvania communities.

The race unleashed a flood of outside campaign spending, as super PACs invested hundreds of millions of dollars in service of their preferred candidate. McCormick benefited from a super PAC dedicated solely to his success, a group that took in six- and even seven-figure checks from billionaire donors.

McCormick's six-year term is slated to begin Jan. 3.

This is the second time a razor-thin margin has separated McCormick from an election opponent. In 2022, during his first Senate campaign, McCormick finished the GOP primary just 1,000 votes behind Dr. Mehmet Oz, who later lost the general election to Fetterman.

McCormick conceded the race to Oz amid an automatic statewide recount.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Who won the Pa. Senate race?