Democratic Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey conceded on Thursday to his Republican challenger, David McCormick, in Pennsylvania’s hotly contested U.S. Senate election.
“I just called Dave McCormick to congratulate him on his election to represent Pennsylvania in the United States Senate,” Casey said in a video statement posted to his account on X, formerly Twitter.
“As the first count of ballots is completed, Pennsylvanians can move forward with the knowledge that their voices were heard, whether their vote was the first to be counted or the last,” Casey continued.
McCormick put out a statement thanking Casey and saying he “dedicated his career to bettering our commonwealth.”
“I am so honored to represent every single citizen in Pennsylvania in the United States Senate and will fight for you every day,” McCormick said.
In his statement announcing his concession, Casey said Pennsylvania’s Senate election this year was “one of the closest in our commonwealth’s history, decided by less than a quarter of a point.”
He added that he was “grateful to the thousands of people who worked to make sure that every eligible vote cast could be counted, including election officials in all 67 counties.”
“I’m proud of the work we’ve done since Election Day to enfranchise voters across the state, no matter whom they voted for, and to ensure that the democratic process could unfold,” he said.
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McCormick declared victory in the Pennsylvania Senate race earlier this month after the Associated Press (AP) called the race for him. The two candidates were separated by just 0.2 percentage points at the time, with McCormick at 48.8 percent and Casey at 48.6 percent.
The gap between them of less than 0.5 percentage points triggered an automatic recount in the Keystone State, which began on Wednesday. McCormick led Casey by almost 16,000 votes as of Thursday, with almost 7 million ballots counted, according to AP.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court also dealt a blow to Casey’s campaign earlier this week, when it ordered counties not to count mail-in ballots that had been dated incorrectly. Democratic Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro urged county election boards to respect the ruling.
McCormick’s victory helped fortify Republicans‘ control of the U.S. Senate beginning in January; the GOP will have 53 seats in the upper chamber, while Democrats and independent senators who typically vote with Democrats will have 47.
Republicans also control the House of Representatives, meaning that when President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January, he will do so with a unified government ready to act on his priorities.