Recount Officially Declared In PA GOP Senate Race

PENNSYLVANIA — A recount has been officially announced by the Pennsylvania Department of State in the deadlocked Republican primary for U.S. Senate, with only a tiny margin separating celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz and former George W. Bush administration official David McCormick.

The announcement comes a day after McCormick's campaign filed a lawsuit in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in an effort to mandate the counting of undated ballots. The effort has been staunchly opposed by President Donald Trump, who endorsed Oz, and the Republican National Committee, which claims that McCormick is using a Democratic tactic that would compromise election integrity.

The recount is expected to take weeks. The move has been long expected, as recounts are typically automatically triggered if the margin between two candidates is less than 0.5 percent. The margin between Oz and McCormick is just 902 votes, according to the latest unofficial returns.

Oz maintains a very narrow lead of 419,365 to 418,463.

McCormick's campaign issued a statement saying they were proud of the results thus far, noting the "razor thin" difference and supporing the recount.

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"This narrow difference triggers an automatic recount," McCormick said. "And we look forward to a swift resolution so the party can unite to defeat socialist John Fetterman in the fall."

Oz has not yet issued a public statement on the recount being officially confirmed, although Trump has urged Oz to "declare victory" and has cast the same baseless aspersions on the 2022 primary election process as he did on the 2020 election.

The Department of State estimates the recount will cost about $1 miillino in taxpayer funding.

It's the seventh recount that has ever been triggered in Pennsylvania history. Only three of those recounts were actually carried out, as the others were waived by the second place finisher. In all three recounts, the initial results of the election stood.

Counties can begin recount process on Friday, but must begin no later than June 1. The deadline for the recount to be completed in June 7, and results must be submitted to the Department of State by noon on June 8.

The race, which will feature current Lt. Gov. Fetterman of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, has long been seen as crucial to the future balance of power in the Senate. The race to replace outgoing Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey is the only 2022 Senate race in a state which President Joe Biden won in the 2020 election.