The Trentonian (Trenton, NJ)

Pa. Senate GOP primary too close to call, recount likely

- By Marc Levy

HARRISBURG, PA. » Pennsylvan­ia’s Republican primary for an open U.S. Senate seat is too close to call and is likely headed for a statewide recount to decide the winner of the contest between heart surgeon-turned-TV celebrity Dr. Mehmet Oz and former hedge fund CEO David McCormick.

A recount would mean that the outcome of the race might not be known until June 8, the deadline for counties to report their results to the state.

The race is close enough to trigger Pennsylvan­ia’s automatic recount law, with the separation between the candidates inside the law’s 0.5% margin. The Associated Press will not declare a winner in the race until the recount is complete.

A recount would mean that the outcome of the race might not be known until June 8, the deadline for counties to report their results to the state.

With thousands of ballots left to tally, Oz, who was endorsed by Trump, led McCormick by 1,092 votes, or 0.08 percentage points, out of 1,338,399 ballots counted as of midday Friday. The race remained close enough to trigger Pennsylvan­ia’s automatic recount law, with the separation between the candidates inside the law’s 0.5% margin.

The hard-fought primary for the Republican nomination to fill retiring GOP Sen. Pat Toomey’s seat is expected to be among the top races in the country in the November general election. The winner of the primary will face Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, who won the Democratic nomination just days after suffering a stroke. He has said doctors expect him to make a full recovery, and remained in the hospital Friday.

County election boards began meeting Friday to sort out problemati­c or provisiona­l ballots, while election workers plowed through thousands of outstandin­g mail ballots. In Allegheny County, which includes Pittsburgh, and Philadelph­ia, that included some uncounted election day precinct tallies.

Pennsylvan­ia’s Department of State, which oversees elections, said there were almost 28,000 mailin and absentee ballots — 8,300 in the Republican primary — left to be counted, based on informatio­n it had from counties as of midday Friday.

Even before a recount starts, there could be a flurry of lawsuits contesting the decisions of certain counties on whether to count ballots that may be difficult to read or bear some kind of irregulari­ty.

As of yet, neither campaign has gone to court, and both candidates have expressed confidence that they will win.

A recount could change the initial result: A recount of a statewide judicial contest last November ended up padding a winner’s margin by more than 5,500 votes in a race where more than 2 million ballots were cast.

Statewide, McCormick was doing better than Oz among mail ballots, while Oz was doing better among votes cast on election day. Counties also must still count provisiona­l, overseas and military absentee ballots before they certify their results to the state by next Tuesday’s 5 p.m. deadline.

Republican turnout exceeded 38%, the highest midterm primary showing in at least two decades, boosted by more than $70 million in advertisin­g and other spending in the Senate GOP campaign.

Oz was helped by the endorsemen­t from Trump, while a super PAC backing McCormick weighed in heavily, spending about $20 million, much of it to attack Oz.

Both men spent millions of their own dollars on the campaign, as well, and battled accusation­s of being carpetbagg­ers — Oz moved from a mansion in northern New Jersey overlookin­g Manhattan to run, while McCormick moved from Connecticu­t’s ritzy Gold Coast.

Follow Marc Levy on Twitter at https://twitter. com/timelywrit­er.

This story has been corrected to show that more than 2 million ballots were cast in the November judicial contest, not 5.1 million ballots.

Follow AP for full coverage of the midterms at https://apnews.com/ hub/2022-midterm-elections and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/appolitics.

 ?? KEITH SRAKOCIC — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ?? An election worker continues the process in counting ballots for the Pennsylvan­ia primary election, Wednesday, May 18, 2022, at the Mercer County Elections Board in Mercer, Pa. Vote counting continues as Republican candidates Dr. Mehmet Oz and David McCormick are locked in a too-early-to-call race for Pennsylvan­ia’s hotly contested Republican nomination for an open U.S. Senate seat.
KEITH SRAKOCIC — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS An election worker continues the process in counting ballots for the Pennsylvan­ia primary election, Wednesday, May 18, 2022, at the Mercer County Elections Board in Mercer, Pa. Vote counting continues as Republican candidates Dr. Mehmet Oz and David McCormick are locked in a too-early-to-call race for Pennsylvan­ia’s hotly contested Republican nomination for an open U.S. Senate seat.

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