Casey and McCormick will face off in a race in Pennsylvania that could help Republicans expand their majority.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (WPVI) — The U.S. Senate race in Pennsylvania between three-term Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and Republican challenger David McCormick could help Republicans cement their newfound majority in the chamber in a battle for the state that is among the most expensive in the country this year.

McCormick led the vote count early Wednesday morning with about 100,000 votes, or 2%, but a significant number of votes remained uncounted.

At Casey’s election night party at a hotel in his hometown of Scranton, Mayor Paige Cognetti, a Casey ally, expressed confidence that Casey would ultimately win once all the votes were counted. But just before midnight she told partygoers to go home in the hope the result would become clear on Wednesday.

Casey, perhaps Pennsylvania’s best-known politician and the son of a former two-term governor, is seeking a fourth term after facing what he called his toughest re-election challenge. Casey, 64, is a stalwart of the state Democratic Party, having won six statewide elections since 1996, including serving as auditor general and state treasurer.

McCormick, 59, is running for the Senate for the second time after narrowly losing to Dr. Mehmet Oz in the 2022 Republican primary. He left his post as CEO of the world’s largest hedge fund to run after serving at the highest levels of former President George W. Bush’s administration and serving as a member of Trump’s Defense Advisory Board.

The race revolved around national themes, from abortion rights to inflation. But it also affected locals, such as Casey’s accusation that McCormick was a wealthy carpetbagger from Connecticut’s posh “Gold Coast” – a caricature that McCormick helped bring to life by mispronouncing the name of one of Pennsylvania’s local beers – while trying to buy Pennsylvania beer. Senate seat.

Casey also criticized McCormick’s hedge fund activities, 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 wrestling in northern Pennsylvania towns—a sport that led him to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point—and how he ran the online auction company FreeMarkets Inc. ., whose name was written on a skyscraper in Pittsburgh during the technology boom.

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Casey, a staunch ally of labor unions and President Joe Biden, campaigned on preserving the middle class, abortion rights, labor rights and voting rights, calling McCormick and former President Donald Trump a threat to all those people.

McCormick, in turn, accused Casey of imposing the Biden administration’s border, economic, energy and national security policies, which he blames for inflation, domestic unrest and war. He attacked Casey as a weak, out-of-touch politician and a strong candidate to join Vice President Kamala Harris if she becomes president.

Democrats currently hold a narrow majority in the Senate.

Both Casey and McCormick had no competition for their party’s nomination in the primary election.

Also on the November 5 Senate ballot are John Thomas of the Libertarian Party, Leila Hazu of the Green Party and Marty Selker of the Constitution Party.