Suspense over who will win Pennsylvania’s Republican Senate primary lingered the day after the May 17 primary as mail-in ballots continued to be counted.
As they await the results, celebrity Dr. Mehmet Oz and businessman David McCormick remain virtually deadlocked.
With 95 percent of the precincts reporting on May 18 at 12:30 a.m. ET, Oz received 31.2 percent of the vote (397,347), while McCormick tallied 31.1 percent (396,724) and Kathy Barnette received 24.7 percent (314,828), according to Decision Desk HQ.
On May 18 at 5 p.m. ET, Decision Desk HQ had Oz with 414,707 votes (31.19), McCormick with 412,983 (31.06 percent), and Barnette at 328,079 (24.68 percent).
Thousands of votes have yet to be counted. Most of these votes are absentee ballots.
The Pennsylvania Secretary of State’s Office said in a May 17 statement that it could take “a few days” to report unofficial results.
“Ahead of the primary, more than 900,000 applications for mail-in and absentee ballots were requested,” the statement reads. “We expect to have unofficial results within a few days. Given the possibility of recounts and the need for official certifications, it is unlikely that final results in all races will be available tonight.”
On May 18, the Pennsylvania Secretary of State’s Office told the Philadelphia Inquirer that more than 100,000 mail-in ballots had yet to be included in the results. Approximately 21 percent of the mail-in ballots already counted for the Senate race were in the Republican primary. There could be more than 20,000 outstanding Republican votes, the Inquirer reported.
To be counted, the majority of mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania must be returned no later than when the polls close on election night at 8 p.m.
Ballots from military and overseas voters can be counted as long as they’re mailed by Election Day. Those typically represent a tiny fraction of the total ballots cast.
Once all of the votes are tallied, the race will likely head to a recount.
Under Pennsylvania law, an automatic statewide recount is triggered if the top two candidates in a race are within half a percentage point of each other, which Oz and McCormick are as of May 18.
The secretary of state will determine if a recount will take place by “the second Thursday following the day of the election,” which is May 26.
The recount would be managed by the individual counties, start no later than June, and be finished by noon on June 7. Counties would submit results to the state by June 8.
According to real-time numbers offered by the Pennsylvania Secretary of State’s Office, McCormick is performing better than Oz among mail-in voters. State law dictates that counties not begin counting mail-in ballots until the morning of election day.
Both campaigns were optimistic on the day after the primary.
“Based on how many uncounted absentee ballots there are and the margin by which Dave has won them so far, that’s why we are confident of victory,” Jeff Roe, McCormick’s political consultant, wrote on Twitter. “Dave will win this race.”
Casey Contres, Oz’s campaign manager, had a similar belief about his candidate.
“While we look to get a better sense of the remaining votes today, we are optimistic Dr. Oz will win,” he wrote on Twitter.
Donald Trump, who endorsed Oz in mid-April, offered his opinion on May 18, posting on Truth Social that “Dr. Oz should declare victory. It makes it much harder for them to cheat with the ballots that they ‘just happen to find.'”
Oz addressed a crowd of supporters in Newtown, Pennsylvania, at 11:50 p.m. on May 17. He thanked Trump and Sean Hannity, saying that he’s “like a brother to me.”
He also talked about the hope that a strong United States brings to other countries.
“My parents were immigrants and saw that shining city on the hill that President [Ronald] Reagan talked about,” Oz said. “I am running to allow all of us to see that brilliance. We are the land of plenty, and nothing can hold us back.
“We are a role model to the world. When our city on the hill is shining bright, others see it.”
Oz wrapped up his talk by saying, “We are making a ferocious charge” in the vote count.
“I will be the next senator of Pennsylvania,” he said.
At his gathering in Pittsburgh on May 17, McCormick said, “Right now, tens of thousands of mail-in ballots have not been counted and will need to be counted tomorrow. There will be no resolution tonight, but we can see victory ahead.
“When all the votes are tallied, I am confident we will win.”
McCormick—a West Point graduate and Gulf War combat veteran—is a former hedge fund executive and U.S. Treasury Department official in former President George W. Bush’s administration.
When a winner is declared, he will face Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman in the general election. Fetterman had a stroke on May 13 and was hospitalized during the final days of campaigning.
On primary election afternoon, the Fetterman campaign released a statement: “John Fetterman just completed a successful procedure to implant a pacemaker with a defibrillator. The procedure began at 3:15 p.m., John was released at 5:56 p.m., and he has been given the all-clear that it was successful. He is resting at the hospital and recovering well. John continues to improve every day, and he is still on track for a full recovery.”
After the procedure, Fetterman posted a photo on Twitter of himself casting an absentee emergency ballot at Penn Medicine Lancaster General Hospital.
