Republican Dave McCormick defeats Democrat Bob Casey to capture Pennsylvania Senate seat

Bethlehem, PA – Republican Dave McCormick edged out three-term Democratic Senator Bob Casey in the Keystone State. High-stakes Senate raceEnding a Pennsylvania political dynasty — and securing the 53rd seat in the GOP’s 2025 Senate majority.

McCormick, an Army veteran and former hedge-fund executive, defeated Casey by just over 30,000 votes, taking 49% of the vote to the Democrat’s 48.5%, with 99% of the votes counted, the Associated Press reported.

The slight margin triggered an automatic recount, as Pennsylvania law dictates any race be decided by 0.5 percentage points or less.

The Republican declared victory just after 1 p.m. Thursday, three hours before the AP finally made the call, with McCormick campaign communications director Elizabeth Gregory Tweet: “Any way you slice it, David McCormick will be the next United States senator from Pennsylvania.”

While McCormick declared victory, Casey still refused to concede the race on Thursday afternoon.

“The count is still ongoing in Pennsylvania,” Tweeted Casey campaign spokesperson Maddy McDaniel. “Yesterday, the vote margin fell by 50,000 votes and the race is now within a half point, which is the threshold for an automatic recount in Pennsylvania.”

McCormick’s victory marks the culmination of his two-year quest to represent Pennsylvania in the Senate. He lost the 2022 GOP primary to Donald Trump-backed Mehmet Oz by less than 1,000 votes, but ran unopposed in the primary this year, running alongside the former president at campaign rallies across the commonwealth.

McCormick, 59, portrayed Casey as a stale and weak candidate who accomplished little for Pennsylvania in his nearly 18 years in Washington, and ran on a message of bringing change and conservative representation to the swing state.

Throughout his campaign he promised to deregulate the oil and gas industry, extend the Trump tax cuts, and authorize the U.S. military forces against mexican cartels To stop fentanyl smuggling across the southern border.

McCormick has also promised to counter China and continue military aid to both Ukraine and Israel.

Casey, 64, launched a campaign to deal with corporate greed While McCormick was repeatedly blamed as an out-of-touch elitist Questionable relationship with Pennsylvania – A strategy that worked well for Senator John Fetterman (D-Pa.) against Mehmet Oz two years ago.

The senator also tried Have distanced themselves from President Joe BidenPositioned himself on fracking to save the oil-rich commonwealth, despite decades of close friendship and parallel positions in their respective Senate careers.

KC also tried last month Aligned himself with Republican candidate Donald Trump On trade and border policy in eleventh-hour campaign ads.

This was not enough to prevent losses from his Democratic coalition this cycle – Trump won Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes by a 2-point margin, promoting McCormick below him on the ticket.

Pennsylvania’s Senate race was the second most expensive in the 2024 campaign cycle, Spending $344 million in advertising purchases.