Image Credit Courtesy McCormick Campaign

Republican Dave McCormick flipped Pennsylvania’s long-held Democrat U.S. Senate seat in an upset that will remove Sen. Bob Casey Jr. from office. But the results are so close there will be a recount.

Casey has held the seat since 2007 and was seeking a fourth six-year term.

The McCormick campaign released a statement on Thursday afternoon noting the close race.

“McCormick is up 30,679 votes with more to come, as ruby red Cambria County is still outstanding. While votes continue to be counted, any way you slice it, Dave McCormick will be the next United States Senator from Pennsylvania,” Elizabeth Gregory, McCormick’s communications director, said in the statement. (As of publication, McCormick led Casey by nearly 32,000 votes).

Cambria County was slow to count ballots because the county had a technical problem on Election Day. Vote scanners could not read the ballots, and it took hours to figure out a solution. Many ballots were cast on paper and had to be counted by hand.

Sen. Bob Casey has not tapped out. The margin between the candidates is .48 percent, and Pennsylvania law triggers an automatic recount when the results are .5 percent or less.

There are more ballots to be counted before the election is certified. Overseas voters have until Nov. 12 to return their ballots and be counted. This year, 37,642 overseas voters requested ballots to vote in Pennsylvania according to Department of State data.

Maddy McDaniel, Casey’s communications director, posted on social media that Casey’s team is “confident” he will be reelected.

The Associated Press made the call in favor of McCormick on Thursday afternoon. In response, Casey’s campaign said the following:

“As the Pennsylvania Secretary of State said this afternoon, there are tens of thousands of ballots across the Commonwealth still to count, which includes provisional ballots, military and overseas ballots, and mail ballots. This race is within half a point and cannot be called while the votes of thousands of Pennsylvanians are still being counted. We will make sure every Pennsylvanian’s voice is heard.” 

Pennsylvania has two Democrat Senators, Casey and the outspoken, hooding-wearing Sen. John Fetterman, but it has not always been that way. For years Pennsylvania had one Democrat and one Republican, former Sen. Pat Toomey. Both Toomey and Casey kept a low profile and did not make a lot of waves in the Senate.

When Toomey decided not to seek another term, the open seat flipped blue, and Pennsylvanians learned what it was like to have a senator who often makes news and is willing to say things that are not always popular with his party.

McCormick ran in the Republican primary for the seat held by Toomey, and the primary results came in so close that there was a recount. Ultimately Dr. Mehmet Oz prevailed in the primary and lost to Fetterman.

Casey is a household name in Pennsylvania because the Caseys have been part of the political landscape for decades. Sen. Casey’s father, Bob Casey Sr., was governor of Pennsylvania from 1987 to 1995. He served as a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate and was also auditor general of Pennsylvania from 1969 to 1977. His son, the current senator, entered politics in 1997 as Pennsylvania’s auditor general and then became state treasurer before being elected as a U.S. Senator.

Beth Brelje is an elections correspondent for The Federalist. She is an award-winning investigative journalist with decades of media experience.