Republican lawmakers are vowing to "escort" Dave McCormick into the Capitol to take part in Senate orientation if the upper chamber's majority leader, Chuck Schumer, continues to withhold his invitation.
Senators Mike Lee of Utah, Katie Britt of Alabama and Eric Schmitt of Missouri said they will defy Schumer and personally transport the Republican candidate for the Pennsylvania Senate seat to the ceremony.
The Associated Press called the race between McCormick and Democratic incumbent Senator Bob Casey in favor of the Republican on November 7. Website Decision Desk HQ has still not called the race at time of writing, with Casey's campaign stating he will not concede until all the votes are counted.
Schumer has not invited McCormick to attend Senate orientation in the coming week as there are ballots left to be counted in Pennsylvania. "With over 100,000 ballots left to be counted in Pennsylvania, the race has not been decided. As is custom, we will invite the winner once the votes are counted," a Schumer spokesperson told Fox News Digital on Sunday.
As of early Monday morning ET, McCormick is ahead of Casey by 49 percent to 48.4 percent, amounting to a gap of around 39,000 votes with 99 percent of ballots counted. If the gap is within or equal to 0.5 percent, it would trigger an automatic recount under state law. Any statewide automatic recount must be ordered by the Secretary of the Commonwealth by the end of the second Thursday following an election, which would be November 14.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Lee said he will take steps to ensure McCormick will attend orientation even without an official invite. "I'm willing to personally escort McCormick into the Capitol for new-senator orientation. I'd like to see how they'd keep him out if he literally walked into 'the room where it happens,'" Lee wrote on Sunday.
In reply, Britt wrote: "I'll be right there alongside you, Mike. McCormick is the senator-elect for Pennsylvania and deserves to be at orientation alongside every other member of his freshman class." Schmitt also indicated on social media he will join Lee in his bid to escort McCormick to the Capitol for the Senate ceremony.
Several GOP lawmakers have criticized Schumer for not allowing McCormick to attend the Senate orientation despite being declared the winner of the Pennsylvania race by The Associated Press.
"Chuck Schumer is an election denier," posted Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who beat Democratic Representative Colin Allred by nearly 9 points to win reelection.
"Chuck, the country overwhelmingly rejected your petty tyranny when they voted you out of being the Majority Leader. Do the right thing and invite Senator-elect McCormick to orientation."
Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas added: "Senator-elect Dave McCormick won. Chuck Schumer's shameful, election-denying decision to block McCormick from Senate orientation shows Schumer's true character."
Democrat John Fetterman, who holds the second Pennsylvania Senate seat, criticized The Associated Press for calling the race between Casey and McCormick with "tens of thousands of votes to be counted across the Commonwealth."
"AP Politics shouldn't make a call in this race until every Pennsylvanian has their vote counted," Fetterman said on Thursday.
Casey campaign spokesperson Maddy McDaniel also said on Thursday that the "count in Pennsylvania is still continuing."
"Yesterday, the vote margin shrunk by 50,000 votes, and this race is now within half a point, the threshold for automatic recounts in Pennsylvania," McDaniel said in a statement.
"With tens of thousands more votes to be counted, we are committed to ensuring every Pennsylvanian's vote is heard and confident that at the end of that process, Senator Casey will be reelected."
The same day, McCormick's campaign said the Republican "is up 30,679 votes with more to come, as ruby-red Cambria County is still outstanding."
"While votes continue to be counted, any way you slice it, Dave McCormick will be the next United States Senator from Pennsylvania," McCormick's campaign communications director, Elizabeth Gregory, said.
The GOP flipped control of the Senate from the Democrats in last week's elections and is currently forecast to have a 53-46 seat majority in the upper chamber next year.
Following's Donald Trump's election win and the GOP closing in on keeping hold of the House, the Republican Party is on course to have its first trifecta of power since 2017 and 2018.
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