Pennsylvania Senate Race Updates: Bob Casey and David McCormick's vote counting enters its third day

HARRISBURG, Pa. (WPVI) — Pennsylvania's U.S. Senate race between three-term Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and Republican challenger David McCormick could help Republicans secure their newfound majority in the House of Representatives in a competitive state contest that is among the costliest in the country this year counts.

As of Wednesday night, McCormick was leading by about 30,000 votes, but a significant number remained uncounted and the race remains too close to decide.

The Casey campaign said it is confident he will be re-elected because thousands of provisional ballots still need to be counted.

A source told Action News that the McCormick campaign, however, is focused on a portion of the ballots still to be counted in Cambria County. They believe these 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 once all the votes were counted.

“It could take a few days. We said it would take a few days in 2020. We have to make sure we raise expectations that it might take a little bit,” Cognetti said.

But just before midnight, she asked partygoers to go home in the hope that a result would become clear on Wednesday.

Casey also addressed the crowd and said, “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 count in places like Philadelphia, and it’s important that every legal ballot is counted. If that happens, we are confident the senator will be re-elected.”

McCormick also addressed his supporters in Pittsburgh on Tuesday night, but 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 his toughest re-election challenge yet.

Casey, 64, is a stalwart of the state Democratic Party and has won six statewide elections since 1996, including as state comptroller and treasurer.

McCormick, 59, is running for the Senate for the second time after a narrow defeat in the 2022 Republican primary. Mehmet Oz had lost. He left his job as CEO of the world's largest hedge fund to run it after serving in the highest levels of former President George W. Bush's administration and sitting on Trump's defense advisory board.

The race ran on national issues, from abortion rights to inflation. But it also revolved around local beers, such as Casey's accusation that McCormick was a rich smuggler from Connecticut's posh “Gold Coast” – a caricature McCormick brought to life by mispronouncing the name of one of Pennsylvania's local beers – and attempted to purchase Pennsylvania's 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 made fentanyl and built up Beijing's military.

McCormick, for his part, highlighted his seventh-generation Pennsylvania roots, recounting 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 the online Auction house FreeMarkets Inc., whose name was on a skyscraper in Pittsburgh during the tech boom.

Live updates on the 2024 election in the Philadelphia region and with a focus on Pennsylvania

Casey, a staunch ally of labor unions and President Joe Biden, has advocated for preserving the middle class, abortion rights, labor rights and voting rights and has called McCormick and President-elect Donald Trump a threat to all.

McCormick, in turn, accused Casey of endorsing the Biden administration's border, economic, energy and national security policies, which he blames for inflation, domestic unrest and war. He attacked Casey as a weak, unworldly career politician and a safe person who would join Vice President Kamala Harris if she had become president.

If McCormick wins, he would be part of the red wave responsible for entering the US Senate.

David Barrett, a political science professor at Villanova, spoke 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 very likely do those things if he has strong support, if he has a House and Senate of his political party,” Barrett explained.

He also said he wasn't surprised at how close the race was, pointing to polls that predicted it, as well as advertising.

“I saw a lot of advertising from McCormick that really, really upset Senator Casey, and I felt like Casey didn't respond enough to that,” Barrett said.

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