Five For Friday: Recount Reactions – U.S. Senate edition

Pennsylvania’s automatic recount of the U.S. Senate race between incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey and Republican Dave McCormick is drawing strong opinions from both sides of the aisle.

McCormick leads in the race – which has been called by The Associated Press in his favor – though, because the margin separating the two candidates is lower than 0.5%, Pennsylvania law mandates a recount. Candidates trailing in a race can waive a recount if they so choose – something that has happened three times in the commonwealth’s history.

McCormick has claimed victory in the race and already visited Washington, D.C. for orientation, but Casey, the incumbent Democrat, has called for all votes to be counted in the race, as counties have not yet completed their initial counts for the 2024 general election, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State. The department estimated that as of Wednesday, roughly 80,000 ballots had yet to be counted. And as of Friday afternoon, McCormick led Casey by just under 24,000 votes. 

Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt said in an announcement this week that counties must begin the recount by Wednesday, Nov. 20, and that they must finish the recount by Tuesday, Nov. 26. Counties must then report their results to the Department of State by noon on Wednesday, Nov. 27. Schmidt said the recount is estimated to cost “just over a million dollars.”

“State law requires counties to submit their unofficial certified results to the department on Nov. 25 this year,” Schmidt said on Wednesday. “Counties will certify the results for all other races by that deadline, then will certify the U.S. Senate results as soon as their recount is completed.” The result of the recount will be published online on Wednesday, Nov. 27, according to Schmidt. 

Below, City & State rounds up some of the reactions to the U.S. Senate recount, including from those critical of the recount effort and its cost, as well as those who are urging that the process be allowed to play out. 

McCormick campaign says his lead is ‘insurmountable’

McCormick, who knows first-hand about the stakes and the cost of a close race – he chose not to waive a recount between him and TV personality Dr. Oz during his first bid for Senate in 2022 – visited the nation’s capital this week for Senate orientation. Following news of the recount, McCormick spokesperson Elizabeth Gregory said the recount would turn out to be a waste of taxpayer dollars, although she did not address why the 2024 recount would be wasteful while the 2022 recount was not.  

"Senator-Elect McCormick’s lead is insurmountable, which the AP made clear in calling the race. A recount will be a waste of time and taxpayer money, but it is Senator Casey’s prerogative,” Gregory said in a statement on Wednesday. “Senator-Elect McCormick knows what it’s like to lose an election and is sure Senator Casey will eventually reach the right conclusion."

GOP members of Congress blast recount 

Republican U.S. Reps. Dan Meuser and Guy Reschenthaler – two lawmakers who objected to certification of Pennsylvania’s electoral votes in the 2020 presidential election – both weighed in on the status of the race, with Meuser pushing Casey to concede. “Dave McCormick will be sworn in as the next United States Senator from Pennsylvania. His 30,000-vote lead is insurmountable. There is no mathematical possibility in which a recount will change the results of the election. Bob Casey should do the right thing and concede,” Meuser posted on X. 

Reschenthaler, meanwhile, called the recount a “farce.” In a post on X that tagged Gov. Josh Shapiro’s campaign account, Reschenthaler said the recount is “a complete waste of valuable taxpayer resources and it will not change the outcome of the election.”

Pennsylvania legislative leaders also weigh in

Pennsylvania Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward also expressed concerns about the cost of the recount, pressing Shapiro to take action and stop the recount from occurring. 

“PA taxpayers shouldn’t be stuck with the burden of a costly recount! With @DaveMcCormickPA up nearly 30k votes, @Bob_Casey could have waived this expense yesterday – but chose not to,” Ward said in a post on X.

Outgoing House GOP Leader Bryan Cutler ripped efforts in Democratic-led counties to count undated and improperly dated mail ballots in defiance of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, actions that led McCormick to sue Philadelphia’s Board of Commissioners on Friday, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. 

“The facts and the law are clear: the election was free and fair, Dave McCormick is our new U.S. senator; a costly, statewide recount is unnecessary and duplicative; and Democrat-controlled counties are now openly defying the courts and the plain language of the election law to try and overturn a legal election result,” Cutler said in a statement. “It is not too late for Sen. Casey to concede and save Pennsylvanians the cost of unnecessary litigation, recounts and questions about the legality of the 2024 election. I call on him to do so immediately.”

Former Democratic Lt. Gov. Mark Singel calls on Casey to concede

Mark Singel, a Democratic consultant who formerly served as Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor, notably called for Casey to concede during an appearance on CBS 21, a central Pennsylvania news station.

“I think it’s time for Bob Casey to concede,” Singel told the outlet. “I know he wants to count every single last ballot, and it is possible that when you look at the amended ballots and the last ones to come in, you might get to that .5 threshold. But, to reconsider all the votes and have a recount, it rarely changes the effect.”

Singel added: “I would say, ‘It’s time to get on with this’ … He’s had a good, distinguished career, and it’s time to concede and move on.”

Democratic U.S. Sen. John Fetterman says ‘count every vote’

Casey’s colleague in the U.S. Senate, U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, reiterated that an automatic recount is required by Pennsylvania law and told Fox News that Pennsylvania should “count every vote.”

When asked about Casey’s recount, and later a recount in Arizona’s U.S. Senate race, Fetterman said: "Let’s talk about where we are at in Pennsylvania. Count every vote, and now there’s a recount because that’s the law – that’s not an opinion; that’s a fact."