(Video Credit: AP)
The GOP Senate primary came down to the wire on Tuesday night with Trump-backed Dr. Mehmet Oz and former hedge fund executive David McCormick only tenths of a percentage point apart in votes as of Wednesday morning, apparently heading for a recount in the race.
Pennsylvania has an automatic recount that kicks in at 0.5 percent. Depending on the mail-in ballot count, it’s possible that voters will have to wait days for an outcome in the neck-and-neck race between the two Republicans. The winner will then face Democrat nominee Lt. Gov. John Fetterman. Oz currently holds a very slim lead in the race.
“So we’re not going to have a result tonight. When all the votes are tallied, I am confident we will win,” Oz confidently told his supporters at an election night party.
“We are going to win this campaign,” McCormick also claimed at his party. “Right now we have tens of thousands of mail-in ballots that have not been counted… unfortunately we’re not going to have resolution tonight. But we can see the path ahead, we can see victory ahead.”
Walking into the polls to vote Mehmet Oz with my wife Lisa! pic.twitter.com/5GGjCNdlLL
— Dr. Mehmet Oz (@DrOz) May 17, 2022
We're going to take back this state. We're going to take back this county. And it's going to be because of you. pic.twitter.com/ex0sszkaeT
— Dave McCormick (@DaveMcCormickPA) May 18, 2022
Oz told Fox News that he felt “very confident” and that he was “in a very good spot.” He is a cardiac surgeon, an author, and a celebrity physician who was the host of the “Dr. Oz Show.”
Despite many conservatives not supporting Oz, he has clawed his way to the top of the primary showing that former President Donald Trump still has huge sway over the Republican Party.
McCormick says he has “good momentum” and asserts “there’s lots of undecideds.” He is a West Point graduate, a Gulf War combat veteran, and was a Treasury Department official in former President George W. Bush’s administration.
Contender Kathy Barnette has fallen to third place and is pretty much out of the running at this point after relentless smears in the media over attending the Jan. 6 rally in 2021.
Tens of millions have been spent on this political race. It is reportedly the most expensive GOP primary in the nation so far during this election season and all eyes will remain on the race until it is decided.
The Pennsylvania Department of State confirmed the delay in determining the winner, citing that the state’s laws do not permit “pre-canvassing” of ballots prior to Election Day. That means counties were only allowed to start counting mail ballots on Tuesday morning, Acting Secretary of State Leigh Chapman said in a press release.
She noted that about 900,000 mail ballot applications were sent in for the primary. She expects the bulk of those ballots to be counted “within a few days.”
Despite suffering a stroke last week, John Fetterman took the Democratic nomination for the Senate on Tuesday. Progressives hailed his nomination as a huge win. Fetterman reportedly considers President Joe Biden not liberal enough and has campaigned on that point.
“Fetterman’s victory shows that voters are fed up and want fighters. This should be a wake-up call to the entire Democratic Party establishment to fight harder against the fascists and those who obstruct a popular agenda,” Stephanie Taylor, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, said in a statement according to the Associated Press.
Just cast my Primary Election Vote from Penn Medicine Lancaster General Hospital using an emergency absentee ballot. ✅ pic.twitter.com/HftIKtZG2V
— John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) May 17, 2022
CNBC reported that President Joe Biden took a vicious swipe at Republicans campaigning for the Senate in Pennsylvania, saying, “They have fought a malicious, chaotic primary campaign to be the most extreme. And they have shown people their authentic selves – that whoever emerges will be too dangerous, too craven, and too extreme to represent Pennsylvania in the United States Senate.”
Sen. Doug Mastriano, a retired Army colonel who is a strong Trump supporter and was endorsed by the former president just three days ago, won his bid to be the GOP’s gubernatorial nominee in the Keystone State as well.
Thank you 🙏🏻 For Voting For Doug4Gov!!! This is YOUR win, Pennsylvania! To God Be The Glory!! pic.twitter.com/CzEE4ESi6y
— Doug Mastriano (@dougmastriano) May 18, 2022
“Big night for Doug Mastriano!” Trump wrote on Truth Social Tuesday night.
“After 8 years of the disastrous policies of Tom Wolf, Republican voters in Pennsylvania have chosen Doug Mastriano as their nominee for Governor,” Republican Governors Association Executive Director Dave Rexrode proclaimed on Tuesday, according to Fox News. “The country, and Pennsylvania, is worse off under Democratic leadership and Josh Shapiro, who will continue the same policies that have led to record inflation and increased violent crime.”
“Instead of focusing on kitchen-table issues like strengthening the economy and investing in education, Doug Mastriano is an extremist running on a dangerous agenda that would devastate Pennsylvania families,” Democrat Governors Association Executive Director Noam Lee declared. “He led the charge to overturn Pennsylvania’s 2020 election results, bused people to the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol, and has even been subpoenaed by the bipartisan January 6th committee.”
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