Bob Casey’s likely casting some of his final votes in Washington as Pa. Senate recount is underway

WASHINGTON — Sen. Bob Casey was displaying his usual calm.

Reporters surrounded the Pennsylvania Democrat as he exited the underground Senate tram to head to a vote and asked if his refusal to concede the Senate race against Republican Dave McCormick was fostering mistrust in elections.

He chuckled.

“We’re counting votes and there’s a recount underway,” he said. “So we’ll see what it shows.”

Two floors up, Senate GOP leaders gathered for a news conference, where Sen. Steve Daines (R., Mont.) railed against his colleague.

“I have a simple message for Chuck Schumer and for Bob Casey: It’s over. Dave McCormick is the next U.S. senator from Pennsylvania. Sen. Casey has taken election denial to another level but it didn’t work,” said Daines, who chaired the National Republican Senatorial Committee this election.

For Casey, who has been in the Senate for 18 years, his long tenure here may likely end with a slow march toward defeat as the recount unfolds.

The Associated Press called the race for McCormick on Nov. 7, but Casey has yet to concede and the margin was thin enough to trigger an automatic recount. Counties must begin recounting Wednesday and have until Nov. 26 to complete it.

With counties largely having completed their initial ballot counts as of Wednesday, Casey trailed by about 16,500 votes, while the fate of roughly 2,300 provisional ballots statewide remained tied up in court.

The recount and ongoing legal battles has led to widespread criticism of Casey from Republicans who say Democrats are trying to steal the seat by counting “illegal votes.” Democrats argue Republicans are trying to block legally cast votes.

As of Wednesday, eight small counties had completed their recounts with only a net gain of six votes, according to McCormick’s campaign.

“Another day on the recount to nowhere, and nothing has changed,” McCormick spokeswoman Elizabeth Gregory said in a statement Wednesday evening. “Senator-elect McCormick’s lead is too big for this charade to make any difference, but Senator Casey is forcing Pennsylvanians to spend more taxpayer money on a recount anyway.”

The Department of State is not confirming any recount numbers until Nov. 27, after all 67 counties submit their totals.

Asked if he would concede before the recount was completed if he determined he had no path to victory, Casey was noncommittal.

“The recount’s started, so it’s gotta be completed … and we’ll see what it shows.”

A big part of the dispute has centered on undated or misdated mail ballots, which the state Supreme Court reaffirmed on Monday should not be counted.

The 4-3 ruling, which was requested by the Republican Party and opposed by Casey’s campaign, followed moves by election officials in some Democratic-controlled counties to have the ballots counted despite the high court instructing them to reject those votes earlier in the year.

The court’s ruling Monday, which applies to all counties, specifically excluded just over 1,500 undated or misdated ballots elections officials in Philadelphia, Bucks, Montgomery, Centre, and Monroe Counties had voted to include in their final tallies last week.

But while the decision settles how undated ballots are handled this year, the longer legal battle may not be over because the court has not yet weighed in on the underlying question of whether rejecting undated ballots on what Democrats describe as a technicality constitutes a violation of rights guaranteed to voters by the state constitution.

“My own belief is the state Supreme Court should make a determination on the constitutionality, which they have not reached,” Casey said in Washington. “But I hope they will because it’s an important question about whether voters are gonna be disenfranchised.

Meanwhile, court hearings are slated in counties across the state this week where both sides will argue challenges over other small tranches of provisional ballots. But those fights are unlikely to dramatically impact the state of the race.

McCormick has sought to exclude more than 2,000 provisional ballots missing required signatures from voters or poll workers that elections officials in 10 Pennsylvania counties had voted to include in their tallies anyway. Courts had already ruled against him on more than half of those votes as of Wednesday, according to an Inquirer analysis of court records.

Casey, meanwhile, has fought to include an additional 3,300 provisional ballots statewide — mostly those with missing secrecy envelopes or other procedural errors. But a Common Pleas Court judge in Philadelphia ruled against him Tuesday in an appeal over the largest batch of those votes — more than 2,000 flawed ballots in Philadelphia that the city’s board of commissioners voted to exclude last week.

No matter how courts rule in any of the remaining cases, the numbers at issue are not enough alone to make up Casey’s current deficit in the race. And in the halls of Congress, Senate Democrats were hesitant to weigh in on Casey’s legacy before the recount had ended.

“Bob Casey has consistently fought for working people in Pennsylvania,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) who serves with Casey on the Senate Aging Committee. ”It’s an honor to work alongside him and I put that in the present tense.”

Republicans were more definitive about gaining a 53rd senator in McCormick.

“I think Dave’s gonna do a really good job,” said Sen. Rick Scott (R., Fla.), who also serves on Aging, which Casey chairs. “I’m a business guy so I think the more business people we get up here, the better off we are. I’m excited to serve with him.”

For Casey, whose father served as governor of Pennsylvania, and who has spent the bulk of his career in government — first as auditor general and then as treasurer before his election to the Senate — this week may have been one of his last taking the elevator rides up and down to cast votes as a senator. But asked about that, he said he was undisturbed.

“I’m feeling great,” he said as the elevator doors closed.

Staff writers Jeremy Roebuck and Katie Bernard contributed to this article.