Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has invited Pennsylvania Republican Senator-elect Dave McCormick to the Senate orientation despite Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) holding out on a concession.
On Thursday, the Associated Press projected that McCormick would win the race over Casey, but Democrats have refused to concede as ballots are still being processed. McCormick leads Casey by more than 35,000 votes, with 99% of the ballots counted. Schumer initially did not send invitations for Senate orientation to McCormick or Arizona Democrat Ruben Gallego, but after pressure from colleagues, Schumer changed his mind, POLITICO reported.
“Ruben Gallego and David McCormick have been invited to attend orientation,” a spokesman for Schumer said on Tuesday.
Multiple outlets have yet to declare a winner in the Pennsylvania race, and Casey, a three-term senator, is still telling voters he is waiting for more ballots to be counted.
“Our Commonwealth ran a free and fair election, and we are still waiting on the final results,” he wrote on Monday. “Our election officials will continue counting ballots and ensure that Pennsylvanians’ voices are heard.”
Multiple senators, however, urged Schumer to extend the invitations to McCormick and Gallego. Outgoing Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) posted on X on Sunday, “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. Dave McCormick & Ruben Gallego will be Senators for PA & AZ. They should be invited to orientation & start learning the job.”
Some Republican senators said they would “personally escort McCormick into the building” if Schumer didn’t extend an invitation. “It’s an absolute outrage that Schumer is trying to exclude @DaveMcCormickPA from new-senator orientation,” Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) posted on X on Sunday.
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Schumer was also pushed by moderate Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski (AK) and Susan Collins (ME) to send an invitation to McCormick, The Hill reported.
With McCormick’s win, Republicans will hold 53 seats in the new Senate, giving President-elect Donald Trump a comfortable Republican majority as he begins his second term on January 20. Republicans are also projected to keep their control of the House.
