Tipsheet

So, Now It's Okay to Challenge an Election Result

The math doesn’t work for incumbent Democratic Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA). It’s over. As Mia wrote, Republican Dave McCormick has won, ending Casey’s near-20-year tenure in the US Senate. The outstanding vote that’s left is in deep red Cambria County, which had election issues on Tuesday: 

McCormick's campaign released a statement Thursday declaring victory and citing "ruby red" Cambria County as a Republican stronghold: "While votes continue to be counted, any way you slice it, Dave McCormick will be the next United States Senator from Pennsylvania." 

Casey's campaign, meanwhile, said they were "confident that at the end of that process, Senator Casey will be re-elected." The senator's statement also noted that the vote margin was narrow enough (McCormick's 49 percent to Casey's 48.5 percent) to trigger a recount — within half a point, the threshold for automatic recounts in Pennsylvania, according to state law. 

[…] 

Once polling comfortably ahead, Casey lost ground on the campaign trail to the point that McCormick narrowed the gap between them to inside the margin of error. 

"While public polling in the Keystone State still shows Democratic Sen. Bob Casey with a slight lead, both Republican and Democratic internal polls show this is now a margin-of-error race, with Casey holding a slim, statistically insignificant lead of between one and two points," per Cook Political Report. 

You knew things couldn't have been going well for Casey when he blasted ads touting his support for Trump policies.

Yet, Casey isn’t conceding. Even when there isn’t enough vote left for him to win, and with Fox News and the Associated Press calling it, Mr. Casey, who accused McCormick of hanging around election deniers, has ironically become one:

So, now it’s okay to challenge election results. It’s okay because it’s (D)ifferent, right?

It was always perfectly legal and standard to challenge election results. Democrats were the original crew to do so, dating back to 2004 and 2016. So, please spare us this kabuki theater. Dave won. Bob lost.

What a win.