Democratic Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania conceded his reelection bid to Republican David McCormick on Thursday, as a statewide recount showed no signs of closing the gap and his campaign suffered blows in court in its effort to get favorable ballots counted.
Casey's concession comes more than two weeks after Election Day, as a grindingly slow ballot-counting process became a spectacle of hours-long election board meetings, social media outrage, lawsuits and accusations that some county officials were openly flouting the law.
Republicans had been claiming that Democrats were trying to steal McCormick's seat by counting "illegal votes." Casey's campaign had accused of Republicans of trying to block enough legitimate votes to prevent him from pulling ahead and winning.
In a statement, Casey, a stalwart of Pennsylvania's Democratic establishment and the state's longest serving Democrat ever in the Senate, said he had just called McCormick to congratulate him.
"As the first count of ballots is completed, Pennsylvanians can move forward with the knowledge that their voices were heard, whether their vote was the first to be counted or the last," Casey said.
