BETHLEHEM, Pa. — One of Election Day's most closely watched races remains too close to call.
Pennsylvania's U.S. Senate contest between Democratic incumbent Sen. Bob Casey and Republican challenger David McCormick on Thursday morning was inside the automatic recount threshold.
McCormick had just under a 30,000-vote lead, which has narrowed as outstanding votes continue to be counted. It was at 48.9% to 48.5%.
That less than half-percentage-point margin between the candidates qualifies for an automatic recount.
Casey’s campaign released a statement Thursday saying the vote margin shrunk 50,000 votes on Wednesday.
“With tens of thousands more votes to be counted, we are committed to ensuring every Pennsylvanian’s vote is heard and confident that at the end of the process, Senator Casey will be re-elected,” the statement said.
The Associated Press said 98% of votes have been counted in the race.
McCormick overtook Casey with about 80% of the estimated votes counted just before midnight on Tuesday, the AP said.
Casey initially had a lead over McCormick when just about 40% of the estimated votes had been counted, propelled by mail-in ballots that have historically favored Democrats.
Follow updates on the vote count at https://www.lehighvalleynews.com/election-results.
