by Kim Lyons, Pennsylvania Capital-Star
November 10, 2024

After the Associated Press called the race in his favor, GOP U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick gave a victory speech in Pittsburgh on Friday, thanking incumbent Sen. Bob Casey for his service to Pennsylvania and urging him to concede.

“I also recognize what it’s like to lose a close election,” McCormick said Friday, pointing to Pennsylvania’s 2022 GOP U.S. Senate primary, where he lost to Mehmet Oz by less than 1,000 votes. “We knew on election night we had won, because the math was clear and there’s no way for Senator Casey to win, and the AP certainly recognized that yesterday by calling the race.”

But on Saturday morning, as ballots continued to be counted that could determine whether he would be Pennsylvania’s next U.S. Senator, McCormick flew to Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Casey hammered McCormick for his Connecticut connection throughout the campaign, repeatedly pointing to an August 2023 AP article which maintained that the former hedge fund CEO continued to live in Connecticut even as he sought to represent the people of Pennsylvania.

Flight records show a private plane previously connected to McCormick left Pittsburgh the morning of Nov. 9 bound for Bridgeport. As Vanity Fair reported last year, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) records show McCormick is part owner of four Platius PC-12 planes as part of PlaneSense’s PC-12 fractional ownership program. PlaneSense provides people who purchase one of its planes access to a fleet of private planes.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported in March that after launching a statewide bus tour of Pennsylvania, where he said he would “live on the bus” McCormick flew back to Connecticut that same day. McCormick has said that the reason he travels to Connecticut is because his youngest daughter from a previous marriage lives there, and he visits frequently.

Elizabeth Gregory, communications director for the McCormick campaign said in a social media post Sunday that McCormick “went to his daughter’s soccer game — the first he was able to make it to this season. Like her dad, she won!  Dave was back in PA that night. Please stop with this unseemly desperation.”

The Associated Press, which calculates election outcomes based on a number of factors, including votes remaining, called the race for McCormick on Thursday. But the Pennsylvania Secretary of State noted not long afterward that there were “at least 100,000 ballots remaining to be adjudicated, including provisional, military, overseas, and Election Day votes.” And Casey has not conceded.

“I have dedicated my life to making sure Pennsylvanians’ voices are heard, whether on the floor of the Senate or in a free and fair election,” Casey said in a statement Thursday evening. “It has been made clear there are more than 100,000 votes still to be counted. Pennsylvania is where our democratic process was born. We must allow that process to play out and ensure that every vote that is eligible to be counted will be counted. That is what Pennsylvania deserves.”

PBS NewsHour correspondent Lisa Desjardins reported Friday that the AP told her it had “estimated 109,000 ballots were still outstanding. Up from 91,000 the day before. That is – they stress and I stress – an estimate.  And they adjust it as they get more information.”

In a post from its “decision team” on Friday, the AP said “McCormick’s lead grew on Friday as more Election Day votes were added to the count in Republican-leaning Cambria County and some smaller counties completed the process of assessing and adding provisional ballots to the count. That lead may shrink over the coming days, however, as provisional ballots from more Democratic-leaning areas are reviewed by election officials.”

Other news outlets, including DecisionDesk HQ and NBC News, have not yet called the race as of Sunday morning.

And, when the tally is calculated, if the margin of votes is 0.5% or lower, it would trigger a recount under Pennsylvania law.

McCormick was apparently not invited to participate in U.S. Senate orientation since the race remains close. A spokesperson for U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), the Senate Majority Leader told States Newsroom on Sunday, “With over 100,000 ballots left to be counted in Pennsylvania, the race has not been decided. As is custom, we will invite the winner once the votes are counted.”

On Friday in Philadelphia, the same day McCormick held his victory rally in Pittsburgh, a Common Pleas Court judge rejected McCormick’s request to increase the number of GOP observers in the counting of provisional ballots. McCormick withdrew a second lawsuit seeking a “global challenge” to provisional ballots.

“Each day, counties across the Commonwealth are confirming there are more ballots that need to be counted,” Casey campaign spokesperson Maddy McDaniel said in a statement. “We know there are more than 100,000 ballots left to be counted including tens of thousands of provisional ballots in counties favorable to Senator Casey, and the McCormick campaign has acknowledged these provisional ballots could impact the outcome of the election while pursuing unsuccessful lawsuits to get them thrown out. Pennsylvanians deserve to have their voices heard, and as state officials have made clear, counties across Pennsylvania need more time to tabulate remaining votes.”

As of Sunday, unofficial results showed Casey with 3,330,514 votes, or 48.43%, to McCormick’s 3,370,659 or 49.01%.

Jennifer Shutt of States Newsroom’s Washington, D.C. bureau, contributed.

Pennsylvania Capital-Star is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Pennsylvania Capital-Star maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kim Lyons for questions: info@penncapital-star.com. Follow Pennsylvania Capital-Star on Facebook and X.