This article is made possible through Spotlight PA’s collaboration with Votebeat, a nonpartisan news organization covering local election administration and voting. Sign up for Votebeat’s free newsletters here.
The Pennsylvania Department of State is calling off a recount for the U.S. Senate race after incumbent U.S. Sen. Bob Casey conceded to Republican nominee Dave McCormick Thursday night.
In an email obtained by Votebeat and Spotlight PA, the department told county election officials that Casey asked for the recount to be ended.
“As a result, I am informing you that county election offices that have not yet completed the recount of the U.S. Senate race are not required to do so,” said the email from Jonathan Marks, Pennsylvania’s deputy secretary of state.
McCormick won by more than 16,000 votes, or 0.24%, a margin that research has shown would be extraordinarily unlikely to be reversed by a recount.
State law calls for an automatic recount when a statewide race is within a 0.5% margin, though the trailing candidate can waive it. Secretary of State Al Schmidt announced the recount on Nov. 13, and it was due to be completed next week.
“Thank you to all of Pennsylvania’s elections officials for their hard work throughout this election cycle, including counting millions of ballots and continuing to diligently conduct two audits to ensure every eligible vote cast in the Nov. 5 election is accurately counted,” Schmidt said in a statement Friday.
Casey had resisted calls to concede since Election Day, as counties continued to count provisional, mail, and overseas ballots. His refusal drew criticism from the right, with people citing the cost of the recount to taxpayers. McCormick made the same choice not to waive a recount in 2022, Gov. Josh Shapiro noted earlier this week.
The margin between the two candidates continued to narrow as counties wrapped up their initial tallies, but ultimately, the outcome didn’t change.
At 5 p.m. Thursday, the Department of State announced that counties had finished their initial counts. A short time later, Casey released a video saying he had called McCormick to congratulate him on his victory.
It is unclear what cost savings will result from the cancellation. Many counties had already completed their recount work by Thursday. The Department of State initially estimated the recount would cost more than $1 million.
When asked if the updated results from counties that had already completed the recount would be included in the final certification of the race, the department did not immediately respond.
Carter Walker is a reporter for Votebeat in partnership with Spotlight PA. Contact Carter at cwalker@votebeat.org.
