Sen.-elect Dave McCormick will travel to Washington, D.C., for freshman orientation on Tuesday, according to a source familiar with the matter, even as Democrats refuse to recognize him as Pennsylvania’s next senator.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has not invited McCormick to the meetings, convened for all new members of the Senate, noting that around 100,000 ballots must still be counted in his Senate race.
“As is custom, we will invite the winner once the votes are counted,” Schumer said in a statement on Sunday.
Yet three GOP senators — Eric Schmitt (R-MO), Katie Britt (R-AL), and Mike Lee (R-UT) — plan to grant him entry to the building anyway so he can be escorted to orientation. It is not clear how Schumer would handle his arrival in the Senate.
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Democrats are holding out hope that their incumbent, Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), still has a narrow path to victory once tens of thousands of provisional ballots are counted.
At the moment, he trails McCormick by almost 40,000 votes.
But the decision to exclude McCormick caused an uproar among Senate Republicans, who say he is being unfairly excluded. The Associated Press called the race for McCormick three days ago in one of the biggest upsets of the 2024 cycle.
“Dave McCormick is the new senator for Pennsylvania. The idea that Schumer would not allow him to participate in Senate orientation is beyond unacceptable,” Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD) posted on X.
The Casey campaign maintains that outstanding ballots are in favorable enough counties to swing the outcome of the race despite the McCormick camp insisting that Casey has no mathematical path to winning.
The fight has played out, in part, in the courts, with McCormick suing to disqualify certain provisional ballots. If less than half a percentage point continues to separate McCormick and Casey, the race could head to a recount.
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Schumer’s decision to exclude McCormick from orientation stands in contrast to House custom, in which both candidates attend if the race has not been decided. Schumer has apparently not invited Ruben Gallego, the Democrat leading in Arizona’s uncalled Senate race, either.
The House will conduct its own freshman orientation next week despite a handful of races remaining too close to call. Republicans are expected to retain the House, while McCormick would give Republicans a 53-seat majority in the Senate.