Bob Casey Cries Uncle, Ending U.S. Senate Race Recount In Pennsylvania
Casey finally admitted defeat Thursday evening in a sober video posted on social media.
The contentious campaign for one of Pennsylvania's seats in the U.S. Senate is finally over after Democratic incumbent Bob Casey called Republican challenger Dave McCormick to concede.
Republicans accused election officials in several Pennsylvania counties of trying to subvert the election by illegally counting votes in the recount. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court sided with Republicans, but some officials indicated that they would ignore the ruling and continue.
'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. That’s democracy.'
On Thursday, 16 days since Election Day, Casey conceded the election.
"I just called Dave McCormick to congratulate him on his election to represent Pennsylvania in the United States Senate. 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," he said in a video posted to social media.
McCormick issued a brief response.
"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," he said.
The official count of votes gave McCormick a lead of about 16,000 votes over Casey, which added up to a margin of just under .5%. That narrowly fell within the cut-off point for a recount, though critics said it was unlikely to overturn the official results given historical trends.
"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. That’s democracy," Casey concluded.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee had called Casey's attorney in the matter a "scumbag" as the controversy continued.
The seat will give Republicans a 53-47 majority in the next session of the U.S. Senate.
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Sen. Bob Casey (D., Pa.) conceded to Republican challenger Dave McCormick, cementing an election result that the Associated Press called three weeks ago but Casey refused to acknowledge.
"I just called Dave McCormick to congratulate him on his election to represent Pennsylvania in the United States Senate," Casey said in a Thursday evening statement. "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 last."
The post Casey Strikes Out on Recount appeared first on .
Sen. Bob Casey (D.), who trailed Republican Dave McCormick in Pennsylvania by tens of thousands of votes going into a state-mandated recount this week, picked up just four votes in the counties that have finished the recount process so far, according to the McCormick campaign.
The post Bob Casey Picks Up Just Four Votes After First Wave of Recounts, McCormick Campaign Says appeared first on .
Bucks County Board of Commissioners Chair Diane Ellis-Marseglia (D) is backpedaling on her pledge to count illegal ballots in the Senate election between Democratic incumbent Bob Casey and Republican challenger Dave McCormick.
While multiple news outlets declared McCormick the winner, Casey has refused to concede the race, instead demanding a recount since the results were within the 0.5% margin that could trigger such a review.
'Misinterpretation of [an] inartfully worded statement on my part.'
The recount has sparked concerns about election integrity after Ellis-Marseglia basically admitted she planned to defy the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's order not to count undated or misdated mail ballots.
"People violate laws any time they want," Ellis-Marseglia stated. "So, for me, if I violate this law it's because I want a court to pay attention. There's nothing more important than counting votes."
Again, on Monday, the state's Supreme Court ruled that undated and misdated ballots cannot be counted.
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley accused Democrats of "brazenly trying to break the law by attempting to count illegal ballots" to "steal the seat" from the Republican candidate.
"The RNC has filed four lawsuits over this already and will fight for as long as necessary," Whatley said. "This is the exact kind of left-wing election interference that undermines voter confidence."
On Monday, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) broke his silence on the matter, claiming that there was "a lack of legal clarity surrounding undated mail-in ballots that caused significant confusion and put counties in a challenging legal position."
He stated that county officials "were damned if they did and damned if they didn't — likely facing legal action no matter which decision they made on counting."
"As we move forward, I want to be clear: any insinuation that our laws can be ignored or do not matter is irresponsible and does damage the faith in our electoral process," Shapiro stated, presumably referring to Ellis-Marseglia's previous statement.
"The rule of law matters in this Commonwealth, and as I have always said, it is critical for counties and officials in both parties to respect it with both their rhetoric and their actions," he added.
Whatley called Shapiro's statement "better late than never."
"Heartening to see. Once Democrats came to the conclusion that even ignoring the Pennsylvania Supreme Court can't scrape up enough ballots to win ... Governor Shapiro suddenly discovers that he stands with the rule of law," Whatley said.
Later that day, Ellis-Marseglia appeared to backpedal on her previous comments, according to a report from the Philadelphia Inquirer.
She blamed a "misinterpretation of [an] inartfully worded statement on my part."
"I apologize for all the upset and confusion it caused," she said.
Ellis-Marseglia claimed that the court's reaffirmed ruling on Monday provided some much-needed clarity.
"This is exactly what I was hoping for, for the court to weigh in and give us clarity," she said. "We were under a stay, and now we have full clarity."
Blaze News reached out to Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn to determine whether her office plans to open an investigation into the matter. However, Schorn did not respond to a request for comment.
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