Republican Mehmet Oz declared himself the “presumptive nominee” in Pennsylvania’s GOP Senate primary on Friday, two days after an automatic recount was triggered by results showing he was roughly 900 votes ahead of Republican rival David McCormick.
Acting Secretary of State Leigh M. Chapman announced the recount on Wednesday and said it must be completed by June 8. The state recounts any statewide election results closer than half a percentage point.
Mr. Oz, a celebrity physician and former talk show host endorsed by President Trump, is not waiting. He took to social media Friday to declare himself the presumptive winner and to talk about how he will tackle the general election campaign.
“I am blessed to have earned the presumptive Republican nomination for the United States Senate,” Mr. Oz said in the one-minute, 15-second video.“I’m going to reach out to every corner of this commonwealth. I know we’ve got to heal, we’ve got to pull people together again. I want to meet you. I want to hear your ideas. “
He announced plans to begin his general election campaign against Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, who won his party’s primary last week.
Mr. McCormick is fighting in a Pennsylvania court to include hundreds of absentee ballots that were not properly dated. Mr. Oz is opposed to including those ballots. The Republican National Committee is siding with Mr. Oz and backing state election law that excludes improperly dated ballots.
In a statement last week, Mr. McCormick called Mr. Oz’s lead “a razor-thin difference.” But according to Pennsylvania election officials, the past six recounts upheld the narrow wins.
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.
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