Just like in 2016 when it was a no-win situation.
It’s still advantage Oz in the Pa’s Republican U.S. Senate primary, but McCormick hasn’t surrendered yet
Published: May. 20, 2022, 9:00 p.m.
As of 6 p.m. Friday, the Pennsylvania Department of State’s running tally of the Republican Senate vote had Oz leading McCormick by 1.079 votes out of more than 1.3 million cast. The raw vote count was 418,470 votes for Oz, to 417,391, McCormick.
The problem for McCormick, said Philadelphia attorney Adam Bonin, is that every category of votes - mail-ins, absentees, provisionals - is split seven ways in this primary field, and the actual votes cast for Oz and McCormick has been super close across the board.
“So there’s going to be some wobbling in different directions as the count continues,” Bonin, who specializes in election law for Democratic candidates, said Friday. “But you’re not going to suddenly see one of these tranches of ballots come in, you know, with a huge lead for one of them. Statistically, that’s just not going to happen.”
There’s still that recount, to be sure. Pennsylvania triggers one in any statewide race where the margin between the top two finishers is 0.5 percent or less. Here, it’s actually less than 0.1 percent.
But Jonathan Marks, the state’s deputy secretary for elections and commissions, noted in an interview with PennLive Friday that of the three prior statewide races that have gone to an automatic recount, none has seen a change in the outcome.
To be sure, McCormick was not ready to concede.
Just like in 2016 when it was a no-win situation.