It took several days for the race to be called, but Republican Dave McCormick has defeated Sen. Bob Casey for Pennsylvania's U.S. Senate race. Democrats like Casey, but also liberal attorney Marc Elias are still holding out on acknowledging the results. The Harris-Walz team is even fundraising off of such a race, though the votes still being counted come from a bright red county. One Democrat, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), is taking it a step further by refusing to allow McCormick to show up for freshman orientation.
As Fox News reported on Sunday afternoon, three days after several outlets called the race in favor of McCormick:
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is not allowing Senator-elect Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania to attend Senate orientation in the coming week, pointing to outstanding ballots in the state, even though the race has already been called.
Two sources with knowledge confirmed to Fox News Digital that McCormick was not invited to orientation, despite having been projected by the Associated Press to win the Pennsylvania Senate race.
When reached by Fox News Digital, a Schumer spokesperson said in a statement, "With over 100,000 ballots left to be counted in Pennsylvania, the race has not been decided. As is custom, we will invite the winner once the votes are counted."
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Schumer's office shared with Fox News Digital that Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., has not been invited to orientation either. The Arizona Senate race is still ongoing and has not been called by the AP.
A spokesperson for the majority leader also noted that Sen. Al Franken did not attend orientation in 2008 due to the close nature of his election. However, Franken's election was won by only a few hundred votes, while McCormick is leading by tens of thousands.
McCormick's fellow Republicans have rushed to defend him over X, with Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) sharing some plans he has in mind. With Schumer not willing to allow McCormick to attend, Lee has offered to escort him. Sens. Katie Britt (R-AL) and Eric Schmitt (R-MO) have also signed on to such a plan as well.
I’m willing to personally escort @DaveMcCormickPA into the Capitol for new-senator orientation
— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) November 10, 2024
I’d like to see how they’d keep him out if he literally walked into “the room where it happens” https://t.co/6grLl0eUcf
https://t.co/iKhLLZ4sL0 pic.twitter.com/feb87CzkUc
— Eric Schmitt (@Eric_Schmitt) November 10, 2024
Fantastic! So glad that I’ll be joined by @KatieBrittforAL and @Eric_Schmitt in escorting @DaveMcCormickPA into the Capitol for “freshman orientation,” from which Schumer is trying to exclude McCormick.
— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) November 10, 2024
There's also the theme of Schumer engaging in election denialism, especially with the outstanding votes to be counted not being in Casey's favor, hence the race being called by numerous outlets.
Other notable responses come from Sen.-elect Tim Sheehy (R-MT) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), the latter who just won reelection by 8 points, despite Democrats thinking it was a race they had a chance with. Sheehy, who unseated vulnerable Democratic incumbent Sen. Jon Tester, put out a quoted repost of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), using particularly harsh language. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) noted such a move from Schumer "shows Schumer's true character."
Chuck Schumer is an election denier.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) November 11, 2024
Chuck, the country overwhelmingly rejected your petty tyranny when they voted you out of being the Majority Leader. Do the right thing and invite Senator-Elect McCormick to orientation. https://t.co/9jKCjVh5DT
This is BULLSHIT. Schumer is a lame duck. @DaveMcCormickPA should show up anyway. We’ve got a country to save! https://t.co/cDQTeAdXVS
— Tim Sheehy (@SheehyforMT) November 10, 2024
Senator-elect Dave McCormick won.
— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) November 10, 2024
Chuck Schumer's shameful, election-denying decision to block McCormick from Senate orientation shows Schumer's true character.
The senators looking to replace Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) as the Republican leader have also weighed in to express their outrage.
Dave McCormick is the senator-elect & @SenSchumer’s move to not allow him to participate in orientation this week is disgusting. They did the same thing to me after I beat a Democrat in 2018. We have to fight this!
— Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) November 10, 2024
AP called it. Dave won, Casey must concede NOW.
Dave McCormick is the new senator for Pennsylvania. The idea that Schumer would not allow him to participate in Senate orientation is beyond unacceptable.
— Senator John Thune (@SenJohnThune) November 10, 2024
The voters of Pennsylvania have spoken. Looking forward to having Dave’s strong voice in the Senate Republican Conference.
Just pettiness https://t.co/Wh5VGxET7d
— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) November 10, 2024
Not only does Schumer look to be engaged in election denialism, but his "pettiness," to quote Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), also comes as he laughably tried to call for bipartisanship just days earlier after it became clear that Republicans had taken control of the Senate. Schumer is thus a lame duck majority leader.
Such a call for bipartisanship came in a Wednesday evening thread over X.
As I’ve said time and again, in both the majority and the minority, the only way to get things done in the Senate is through bipartisan legislation while maintaining our principles — and the next two years will be no different.
— Chuck Schumer (@chuckschumer) November 6, 2024
The Fox News report also mentioned Sen.-elect Ruben Gallego, the Democrat who was declared the winner for the U.S. Senate race out of Arizona by Decision Desk HQ on Saturday night.
McCormick and Gallego are also getting support from retiring Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), who was elected as a Democrat and switched her affiliation in December 2022. She called for both McCormick and her successor, Gallego, to be able to attend.
In 2018 my race wasn’t called for 6 days. I jumped on a redeye to DC to make senate orientation-I learned so much & made lasting relationships that week.
— Kyrsten Sinema (@kyrstensinema) November 10, 2024
Dave McCormick & Ruben Gallego will be Senators for PA & AZ. They should be invited to orientation & start learning the job.
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