Democratic Sen. Bob Casey Concedes To David McCormick In Pennsylvania Senate Race

Topline

Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., conceded his Senate contest against Republican David McCormick on Thursday, dropping his bid for reelection amid a recount in Pennsylvania, though the Associated Press had already called the race for the Republican.

Key Facts

Casey conceded to McCormick as the recount, which was automatically triggered because the margin of the initial count was within 0.5%, showed he was unlikely to overcome the slim lead the Republican had over him.

In a video announcing his decision, Casey said he congratulated McCormick on his election and added “Pennsylvanians can move forward with the knowledge that their voices were heard.”

Official recount results are expected to be shared by Pennsylvania on Wednesday, CBS News reported, noting this was the fourth time the swing state had conducted an election recount since 2004.

McCormick was ahead in the initial count 48.8%-48.6% over Casey, or a margin of about 16,000 votes, according to AP.

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Crucial Quote

“Senator Bob Casey dedicated his career to bettering our commonwealth. Dina and I want to extend our sincere gratitude to Senator Casey, Terese, and their family for their decades of service, hard work, and personal sacrifice,” McCormick tweeted following Casey’s concession.

Key Background

Casey served three terms as senator, after unseating then-incumbent Rick Santorum in 2006 and comfortably winning reelection in 2012 and 2018. Pennsylvania’s seat is one of four this election that Republicans flipped from Democratic control, the others being in West Virginia, Ohio and Montana, giving the party a 53-47 majority in the chamber when the next Congress takes office in January. Pennsylvania was unique in this election, however, in that it was the only one of the seven swing states in the presidential contest that elected a Republican senator. Though President-elect Donald Trump swept all seven of those states, Democrats maintained control of seats in Arizona, Nevada, Michigan and Wisconsin. There were no Senate races this year in Georgia or North Carolina.

Tangent

In addition to flipping the Senate and winning back the White House, Republicans also maintained their slim control of the House of Representatives, giving the GOP unified government and delivering Trump a so-called trifecta.

Further Reading

Republicans Win Senate Control—Ending Democrats’ Narrow Majority (Forbes)

Republicans Win Control Of The House—Giving Trump Unified Government (Forbes)