Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate Dave McCormick has defeated Democratic Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr., pulling off an upset win after consistently trailing the three-term incumbent in the polls.
Mr. McCormick, a 59-year-old former CEO of the world’s largest hedge fund, was leading Mr. Casey by 0.5 percentage points when The Associated Press called the race Thursday afternoon, with 99% of the ballots counted.
If the final margin remains 0.5 points or less, it will trigger an automatic recount under state law. But Mr. McCormick is leading by nearly 32,000 votes, so the outcome is unlikely to change.
Mr. Casey did not concede the race after The AP’s call. Campaign spokeswoman Maddy McDaniel said in a statement that there are tens of thousands of ballots left to count, including provisional, military, overseas and mail-in ballots, and the race should not be called until those votes are tallied.
“We will make sure every Pennsylvanian’s voice is heard,” she said.
The flipping of a Democratic-held seat brings Republicans’ majority in the Senate up to 53 seats, with a few races yet to be called.
Mr. McCormick’s win was aided by President-elect Donald Trump, whose path to victory came in the Keystone State.
“President Trump helps a lot because he gets a huge turnout,” Mr. McCormick said in a Fox News interview Monday ahead of joining the Republican nominee at his closing campaign rallies in Pennsylvania.
Mr. Casey, the son of a late governor, has served in the Senate for 18 years. Mr. McCormick ran his campaign promising a change, but his message did not appear to break through until the closing weeks of the campaign when polls started to show the race tightening.
Mr. McCormick has said he’s heard from voters concerned about skyrocketing prices, border security and fentanyl flowing into their communities, and those will be among the top issues he plans to address in the Senate. He has pledged to serve no more than two six-year terms.
• Lindsey McPherson can be reached at lmcpherson@washingtontimes.com.
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