Senate Race Recount Canceled After Casey Concedes

The recount for Pennsylvania’s senate race has been called off in the wake of Senator Bob Casey conceding he lost.

“I just called Dave McCormick to congratulate him on his election to represent Pennsylvania in the United States Senate.”

The Democrat incumbent posted a 3 minute video on social media announcing his conceding the race to Republican Dave McCormick.

McCormick in turn responded on X thanking Casey and his family for “decades of service, hard work, and personal sacrifice.”

The state department announced this morning that the recount would be canceled in wake of the concession.

The campaign between the two candidates was one of the most expensive in the nation. On election night, McCormick pulled ahead. The AP called the race for the Republican on Nov 7. However, days, then weeks went by without Casey conceding.

The Senator’s campaign maintained that there were enough uncounted ballots in Democrat strongholds that there was still a chance to flip results.

“When a Pennsylvanian takes the time to cast a legal vote, often waiting in long lines and taking time away from their work and family, they deserve to know that their vote will count,” Casey said in his video posted yesterday.

Slowly, McCormick’s lead dwindled to around .5%. In Pennsylvania, state law requires a recount for a statewide race that is within .5% margin by a certain deadline.

This years deadline was Wednesday, Nov 13 at 5pm. If Casey conceded the race by noon of the same day, the recount would be canceled.

Casey did not concede that day.

And by the Nov 13 evening, McCormick only had a .43% lead.

A statewide recount was issued, though some counties were still finishing processing mail in and provisional ballots. There were several court cases over mistaken dates and whether certain provisional ballots were eligible to be counted or not. Both McCormick and Casey campaign supporters filed different lawsuits to contend over ballot eligibility.

Counties were required to finish their initial count before proceeding to the recount. They had to start the recount no later than Wednesday, Nov 20 and finish by Nov 26. Pennsylvania’s State Department estimated the recount would cost $1 million. The Department confirms that 21 counties did report recount tabulations, though with the recount canceled now, counties will default to the election code for how to report official results.

Throughout the past week, McCormick’s lead dwindled to 16,000 votes (.24%). However, on Wednesday, all counties reported they had finished their initial counts. Historically, recounts in statewide races rarely result in flipped results, and the times results do change the margins are all below .1%.

Thursday night, Casey conceded.

The Scranton native served in the U.S. Senate since 2007, and as Pennsylvania’s state treasurer and state auditor before then.

“Thank you for the trust you've placed in me for all these years,” Casey said. "It's been the honor of my lifetime”