Dave McCormick, the co-CEO of Bridgewater Associates hedge fund, defeated Bob Casey, a democrat who had held the seat since 2007. McCormick has been an ally of President-Elect Donald Trump and earned his endorsement earlier this year. The race remained tight until the very end when all ballots had been officially counted, but notably Sen. Casey refused to concede. With the race being within 0.5%, an automatic recount will be held, according to state law.
This is the second time McCormick has sought a US Senate seat, following an unsuccessful 2022 bid where he lost in the Republican primary to Dr. Mehmet Oz, who went on to lose to John Fetterman. McCormick, spent the previous 26 years in the private sector, working for and running several different financial groups and hedge funds.
McCormick’s victory, which was officially called by the Associated Press, is a big pickup for Republicans on what turned out to be a landslide victory for the party. Pennsylvania was considered to be the most important of all swing states, and the key to an election victory for Republicans. While the House of Representatives is still technically up in the air, Republicans appear very likely to maintain their slim majority. The GOP previously controlled a “government trifecta” when Donald Trump was inaugurated for the first time in 2017.
While not every ballot has been counted in the tightly contested race, McCormick’s campaign was quick to point out that most of the remaining ballots needing to be counted came from Cambria County, which is historically a red-leaning county, and a place where McCormick’s current lead stands at roughly 24 points. Issues on election day prevented Cambria County, and several others, from being able to finish ballot counting on November 5th.
Despite this, current Democrat Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has reportedly declined requests from current Republican senators to include a senate orientation invite to Senator-Elect McCormick, citing the need for every ballot to be counted. Schumer did not specify which counties he believed the outstanding votes could sway the current 40,000-vote lead he currently holds. Schumer is breaking the tradition of invitations extending to winners of AP race calls.
