Pennsylvania Secretary of State announced on Wednesday (November 13) that the ongoing Senate race between Democratic incumbent Senator Bob Casey and his Republican challenger David McCormick is entering a recount stage due to less than a 0.5% margin.
The announcement was made by Pennsylvania Republican Secretary of State, Al Schmidt on Wednesday afternoon. The unofficial election results have triggered a statewide recount.
According to Pennsylvania law, when the difference in vote percentages between two candidates is less than 0.5%, an automatic recount is triggered. As of Wednesday afternoon, former co-CEO of the world’s largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, McCormick was leading Casey by a slim margin of about 29,000 votes, with a vote percentage of 48.9% compared to Casey’s 48.59%, meeting the threshold for an automatic recount.
An announcement from the Secretary of State’s office stated that each county must begin the recount before November 20, which will cost taxpayers over a million dollars. The counties must complete the recount by noon on November 26 and report the results to the Secretary of State by noon on November 27, with the final election results to be announced later that day.
Despite several mainstream media outlets predicting McCormick’s victory in the Pennsylvania Senate race, Casey has refused to concede and is awaiting the final recount results.
Last Friday, McCormick delivered a victory speech, mentioning his loss in the 2022 Pennsylvania Republican Senate primary to TV medical talk show host Mehmet Oz by fewer than 1,000 votes during a recount.
He stated, “We knew we won on election night because the math was clear, Senator Casey could not win. But Senator Casey will have to endure this hurdle, so I wish him and his family all the best and thank them for their service.”
McCormick’s victory would secure the Republican party’s 53 seats in the U.S. Senate.