The election was thought to be over. That’s not the case.
Because election recount news from the U.S. Senate has stopped Donald Trump in his tracks.
Donald Trump is expecting to enjoy a friendly legislative branch since the Republican Party maintained control of both the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate. This was huge because he sometimes struggled with a Congress that was not very friendly to his agenda the first time around when he won office in 2016. They controlled Congress for two years and then lost the U.S. House in 2018, on top of all the RINOs who still infected the legislative branch.
Democrats are aware of this and they are fighting to the bitter end to potentially flip the results of the U.S. Senate elections. They are targeting close elections and demanding recounts to see if they can get a different result from some of the most high profile races that came down to the wire.
Pennsylvania Senate Race Heads to Recount as Legal Challenges Mount
The Pennsylvania Senate race between incumbent Democratic Senator Bob Casey and Republican challenger David McCormick is set to move to a statewide recount, following a razor-thin margin in the vote tally. As of Wednesday, election officials are still finalizing the ballot counts, with both campaigns disputing which ballots should be included.
The race has entered the recount phase after Casey opted not to waive his right to a recount by Wednesday’s deadline. This decision prompted Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt to announce that a recount would take place due to the narrow gap between the candidates. McCormick currently leads by about 28,000 votes out of more than 6.9 million ballots counted, which falls within Pennsylvania’s 0.5% threshold for an automatic recount.
Counties across Pennsylvania must begin the recount by November 20, with an expected completion date of November 26, according to the Associated Press (AP). Despite the recount, former election officials suggest that the final result is unlikely to differ significantly, given the scale of the vote. However, McCormick has already attended a Senate orientation session in Washington, signaling his confidence in the outcome.
NEW: Dave McCormick, the GOP candidate for U.S. Senate in PA, discussed the state of his race against incumbent Dem. Sen. Bob Casey and the key issues on voters’ minds ahead of Election Day in a Thursday interview with the Daily Caller News Foundation. pic.twitter.com/MFBwycxVct
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) October 18, 2024
Campaigns Clash Over Ballot Challenges
Tensions between the two campaigns have been high, particularly regarding the inclusion of certain ballots. Casey’s campaign manager has accused McCormick’s team of attempting to disenfranchise voters by challenging Democratic provisional ballots, which could delay the recount process. Adam Bonin, an attorney for the Casey campaign, described the situation as part of a larger, more organized effort to interfere with the election results.
“What we are seeing this year is more organized, more disciplined, more directed and more comprehensive than what we saw in 2020,” Bonin said, referring to similar challenges during the previous presidential election cycle.
McCormick’s campaign, however, has pushed back against these accusations, with advisor Mark Harris arguing that Democratic-controlled counties are deliberately slowing the vote count by withholding processed ballot totals. He defended the legal challenges as necessary and legitimate, asserting that they were part of a lawful process.
“This is clearly an effort to use lawfare to chip away at our lead,” Harris said. “This is not going to work. Dave McCormick is the senator-elect and will be the senator.”
Provisional Ballots and Legal Battles
As the recount moves forward, county officials across Pennsylvania have been busy processing thousands of provisional ballots while also addressing legal challenges from both sides. In some areas, disputes have intensified. For example, in Bucks County, Democratic election officials decided to count over 400 mail-in ballots that lacked handwritten dates, a decision that continues to face legal opposition from Republicans.
The intense legal battles and the narrow margin have made the outcome uncertain, with both campaigns already preparing for a prolonged process. According to the AP, the current tally shows McCormick leading with 49% of the vote compared to Casey’s 48.5%. The tight race prompted Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to withhold an invitation to McCormick for the Senate’s November orientation, citing the undecided status of the race.
As the recount deadline looms, all eyes will remain on Pennsylvania, where the outcome of this crucial Senate race could ultimately shape the balance of power in the U.S. Senate.
Stay tuned to the Conservative Column.
