HARRISBURG, Pa. (WPVI) — Republican Dave McCormick claimed victory over Democratic Sen. Bob Casey in Pennsylvania’s key U.S. Senate seat. The Associated Press called the race for McCormick on Thursday, but ABC News has not yet predicted a winner.

Secretary of State Al Schmidt said Thursday night that there were still “at least” 100,000 votes available. That number includes “provisional, military, overseas and Election Day votes,” according to Schmidt.

“We encourage you to be patient as election workers continue to do this important work, especially in contests where the margins are very close,” he said.

McCormick filed a lawsuit in Philadelphia on Friday challenging thousands of provisional ballots that city election officials began counting in the early morning hours.

On Friday, McCormick led Casey by nearly 34,000 votes.

The Republican spoke in Pittsburgh on Friday for the first time since declaring victory.

“There is no way Senator Casey can overstep my leadership,” McCormick said.

McCormick said he does not intend to reject any of the votes still being counted.

Senator Bob Casey has not yet conceded.

Casey’s campaign said in a statement that the race was too close to call due to thousands of ballots still needing to be counted.

“The expected number of provisional ballots from counties favoring Senator Casey, such as Philadelphia and its suburbs, is further evidence that this race is too close to call. As the McCormick campaign admitted in its lawsuit this morning, the counting of these ballots ‘could impact the outcome of the election.’ Casey With more than 100,000 ballots still left to be counted, we will continue to ensure Pennsylvanians’ voices are heard,” his campaign said in a statement. expressions were used.

“As votes continue to be counted, no matter which way you look at it, Dave McCormick will be the next U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania,” McCormick’s communications director, Elizabeth Gregory, said in an afternoon statement.

Casey, perhaps Pennsylvania’s best-known politician and the son of a former two-term governor, appears to be seeking a fourth term after facing what he calls his toughest reelection challenge yet.

Casey, 64, is a stalwart of the state Democratic Party and has won six statewide elections since 1996, including for the state’s auditor general and treasurer.

McCormick, 59, narrowly lost to Dr. in the 2022 Republican primary. After losing to Mehmet Öz, he ran for the Senate for the second time. He left his post as CEO of the world’s largest hedge fund after serving at the highest levels of former President George W. Bush’s administration and serving on Trump’s Defense Advisory Board.

The race ran on national themes, from abortion rights to inflation. But he also targeted local ones, like Casey’s accusation that McCormick was a wealthy carpetbagger from Connecticut’s swanky “Gold Coast.” Senate seat.

Casey also attacked McCormick’s hedge fund days, accusing him of getting rich at America’s expense by investing in Chinese companies that produce fentanyl and build Beijing’s military.

McCormick, for his part, emphasized his seventh-generation roots in Pennsylvania, recounting his high school days spent wrestling in towns in northern Pennsylvania, a sport that took him to the US military academy at West Point, and his time running online auction house FreeMarkets Inc. ., bore his name on a skyscraper in Pittsburgh during the tech boom.

A staunch ally of labor unions and President Joe Biden, Casey campaigned on protecting the middle class, abortion rights, workers’ rights and voting rights, and said McCormick and President-elect Donald Trump were a threat to all of them.

McCormick, on the other hand, accused Casey of blaming the Biden administration’s border, economic, energy and national security policies for inflation, civil unrest and war. He attacked Casey as a weak, out-of-touch career politician and took it for granted that he would align himself with Vice President Kamala Harris if he became president.

If McCormick wins, he will be part of the red wave responsible for clinching the US Senate.

David Barrett, a political science professor at Villanova, talked about the impact of Republicans taking control of the Senate.

“The bottom line is that a determined president who wants to do things is likely to be able to do those things if he has strong support and his political party has the House and the Senate,” Barrett said.

He also stated that he was not surprised that the race was so close, pointing to polls that predicted this as well as advertisements.

“I saw a lot of McCormick’s ads that really, really brutalized Senator Casey, and I felt like Casey didn’t respond enough,” Barrett said.

The race may lead to a recount if decided by a margin of half a point or less.