The Wall Street Journal took Democrats to task on Sunday, accusing them of “election denial” for refusing to concede the Pennsylvania Senate race.
Dave McCormick, the Republican challenger, is currently leading in Pennsylvania by less than 40,000 votes with more than 95% of votes counted. The Associated Press projected McCormick as the winner on Thursday.
Nevertheless, Democratic Senator Bob Casey, who is seeking a fourth term, has refused to concede.
Only 87,000 provisional ballots are left to count. Provisional ballots are those with some legal hangup, such as mail ballot issues or voter registration questions.
As the race stands now, Casey seems unlikely to pull ahead.
The Philadelphia and Pittsburgh counties have about 30,000 provisional ballots left to count, and the rest come from other parts of the state where McCormick was more successful. So far, Casey has won the around 7,700 provisional ballots counted so far by about 54% to 46%. Even if he maintains this margin, he will not come out ahead of McCormick, the Journal pointed out.
However, Democrats may be gunning for an automatic recount.
Right now, McCormick’s margin of victory stands around .06%, but if it falls below 0.5%, it would trigger an automatic recount under state law.
If a recount happens, Marc Elias, an elections lawyer for the Democratic Party, may try to challenge certain ballots cast for McCormick or even search for more ballots cast for Casey, the Journal predicted.
Elias has managed to do this before.
In the 2008 Minnesota Senate race, Elias convinced a judge to count previously rejected ballots for Al Franken and overturn the lead of the Republican challenger.
On Monday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer showed his hand when he barred McCormick from attending Senate orientation this week, indicating he does not yet consider McCormick the winner.
The move triggered outrage from Republican senators.
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“What happened to all the demands that our leaders accept the outcome of the elections?” Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) posted Sunday on social media.
“The idea that Schumer would not allow him to participate in Senate orientation is beyond unacceptable,” Senator John Thune (R-SD), the Senate minority whip, posted Sunday.
“The voters of Pennsylvania have spoken. Looking forward to having Dave’s strong voice in the Senate Republican Conference,” Thune said.
Thune is in the running for Senate Majority Leader, along with Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) and Senator John Cornyn (R-TX). Republicans plan to vote Wednesday on who will take over that role in January.
The Journal said it would “await the outraged editorials denouncing this threat to democracy.”
“Did someone say ‘election denial?’” the paper said.
“Mathematically, there’s no path for Senator Casey to win,” McCormick said Sunday on Fox News, adding, “Ultimately, Senator Casey’s going to have to decide when he’s willing to acknowledge that.”
