Breaking: Bob Casey Concedes in U.S. Senate Race in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Capital-Star:

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) on Thursday dropped his bid for reelection, conceding to GOP challenger Dave McCormick, putting an end to one of the most hotly contested and expensive Senate races, and an end to the Scranton native’s 18-year career in the Senate. 

“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,” Casey said in a statement Thursday afternoon.  “This race was one of the closest in our Commonwealth’s history, decided by less than a quarter of a point. I am grateful to the thousands of people who worked to make sure every eligible vote cast could be counted, including election officials in all 67 counties.”

The Associated Press called the race for McCormick on Nov. 7, but Casey had refused to concede, citing the large number of ballots still to be counted at the time. 

Since the vote margin between McCormick and Casey was less than 0.5%, it triggered an automatic statewide recount under Pennsylvania law. Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt estimated the cost of the recount would be more than $1 million. As county tallies began to trickle in, however, it did not appear Casey would pick up enough votes to clear McCormick’s lead of more than 17,000 votes. …

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