McCormick, an Army veteran and former hedge-fund executive, beat Casey by just over 30,000 votes, netting 49% of votes to the Democrat’s 48.5%, with 99% of votes counted, the Associated Press reports.
The minuscule margin could trigger an automatic recount, as Pennsylvania law dictates for any race decided by 0.5 percentage points or less.
Such a recount would have to begin by Nov. 14 and be completed by Nov. 26.
The Republican declared victory just after 1 p.m. Thursday, three hours hours before AP finally made the call, with McCormick campaign communications director Elizabeth Gregory tweeting: “Any way you slice it, David McCormick will be the next United States Senator from Pennsylvania.”
McCormick’s win marks the culmination of his two-year quest to represent Pennsylvania in the Senate. He lost the 2022 GOP primary to Donald Trump-endorsed Mehmet Oz by fewer than 1,000 votes but ran unopposed in the primary this year, stumping with the former president at campaign rallies across the commonwealth.