(Julianna Frieman, Headline USA) Outgoing Sen. Bob Casey, D-Penn., refused to concede his reelection bid Thursday after the race was called for Republican challenger Dave McCormick.
McCormick, 59, successfully unseated the three-term Casey in a major blow to Pennsylvania’s Democrat establishment.
Despite the Republican’s more than 30,000 lead when the race was called around 4:09 p.m., Casey’s Communications Director Maddy McDaniel issued a statement explaining the Democrat’s decision to not yet concede.
Statement from the Casey campaign on the #PASen race: pic.twitter.com/mWqoSuYx28
— Maddy McDaniel (@maddymcdaniel14) November 7, 2024
“As the Pennsylvania Secretary of State said this afternoon, there are some tens of thousands of ballots across the Commonwealth still to count, which includes provisional ballots, military and overseas ballots, and mail ballots,” the statement read.
“This race is within half a point and cannot be called while the votes of thousands of Pennsylvanians are still being counted,” the statement continued. “We will make sure every Pennsylvanian’s voice is heard.”
The Pennsylvania Department of State issued a statement from Secretary Al Schmidt casting doubt on McCormick’s victory saying at least 100,000 more ballots should be counted before a winner can be announced.
A statement from Secretary Al Schmidt:⁰⁰Throughout the day, the Department has communicated with counties who continue to conduct a secure election where every eligible vote is counted.⁰⁰We estimate there are at least 100,000 ballots remaining to be adjudicated, including…
— PA Department of State (@PAStateDept) November 7, 2024
“Throughout the day, the Department has communicated with counties who continue to conduct a secure election where every eligible vote is counted,” Schmidt’s statement said.
He called for patience and said there were still ballots that needed to be counted.
“We estimated there are at least 100,000 ballots remaining to be adjudicated, including provisional, military, overseas, and Election Day votes,” the statement read. “We urge patience as election workers continue to do this important work, especially in contests where the margins are very close.”
Casey’s hesitancy to concede contradicts his 2020 call for then-Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump to concede defeat against then-Democrat President-elect Joe Biden.
President Donald Trump should concede. Full stop. But a reminder that, whether he does or not, @JoeBiden still won this election and will become the next President of the United States at 12:00PM on January 20, 2021. https://t.co/LD88cWxD6F
— Bob Casey Jr. (@Bob_Casey) November 12, 2020
“We know that the peaceful transfer of power is a hallmark of our democracy. He should take the first step, which is concession, and then, from there we can have the beginnings of the peaceful transfer of power,” Casey told The Hill on Nov. 11, 2020.
Julianna Frieman is a freelance writer published by the Daily Caller, Headline USA, The Federalist, and The American Spectator. Follow her on Twitter at @JuliannaFrieman.
