HARRISBURG, Pa. — In a surprising turn of events, Democratic Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania officially acknowledged his defeat in the reelection campaign, conceding to Republican challenger David McCormick on Thursday. This concession followed a prolonged statewide recount that revealed no indication of a narrowing margin, alongside a series of legal setbacks that hindered Casey’s efforts to have ballots counted that might have favored his campaign.
The acknowledgement came more than two weeks after the election, amidst a painstakingly slow ballot-counting process that devolved into lengthy election board meetings, heated social media debates, numerous lawsuits, and claims that certain county officials were disregarding the established legal procedures.
During the election, Republicans consistently alleged that Democrats were engaging in illicit activity by counting what they termed “illegal votes,” while Casey’s team countered by accusing Republicans of attempting to suppress votes that could help him gain an advantage.
In his statement, Casey revealed that he had personally reached out to McCormick to offer his congratulations. “With the initial count of ballots finalized, residents of Pennsylvania can now move ahead with the assurance that their voices were heard, regardless of whether their vote was cast first or last,” he remarked.
The race was formally called for McCormick on November 7, as the Associated Press determined there were not enough outstanding ballots in regions where Casey was performing well enough to allow for a comeback. As of Thursday, McCormick held a lead of approximately 16,000 votes from nearly 7 million ballots that had been counted.
This margin fell within the 0.5% threshold required by Pennsylvania law to trigger an automatic statewide recount. However, election officials did not anticipate that the recount would significantly alter the outcome, with most predicting only minor shifts of a few hundred votes. Compounding Casey’s challenges, Pennsylvania’s highest court ruled against his campaign’s requests to permit counties to count mail-in ballots that were missing the appropriately handwritten date on their return envelopes.
As a result of this election outcome, Republicans will hold a 53-47 majority in the U.S. Senate moving into the next session.
