Senate race too close to call

Posted by Rich Schwartzman on May 18, 2022

Dr. Mehmet Oz addresses members of the Chadds Ford Republican Party during a campaign event at Brandywine Prime Monday night. Oz said he felt confident about getting the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate.

A problem with the codes on paper ballots is delaying the vote count for U.S. Senate in Lancaster County. More than 20,000 votes need to be reprocessed to determine whether Dr. Mehmet Oz or Dave McCormick gets the Republican Party nomination for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania. Currently, there’s a 1,500-vote difference — that's one-tenth of 1 percent— between the two, and the race is reportedly too close to call. Those ballots may need to be recounted by hand, according to KYW News Radio. Whoever wins that race will go up against current Lt. Gov. John Fetterman.

Oz was in Chadds Ford Monday evening. He told supporters he felt confident in getting the GOP nomination.

“I’m very optimistic about tomorrow,” he said. “The polls are close. They shouldn’t be close but the movement, the momentum is in our favor.”

When questioned further about that optimism, he said, “Beside the polls, the wind is behind us, Things are getting easier to do. That’s probably because our message is one that Pennsylvania is listening to…I also feel that most Pennsylvanians appreciate the importance of having a conservative in the Senate who reflects their values.”

Locally, there was one minor problem in Concord Township when Delaware County sent a scanner with the wrong drive to that township’s 6^th precinct. The county sent a scanner set up for Collingdale, but the mistake was corrected early. (See that story here.)

Despite the delay in the U.S. Senate race, other election results are clear. Democrat Cathy Spahr will challenge incumbent Republican state Rep. Craig Williams in November for the 160^th Legislative District seat.

In the 158^th Legislative District, incumbent Democrat Christina Sappey will face a challenge from Republican Leon Spencer, a former mayor of Kennett Square. In the 156^thdistrict, Republican Heidi Van DerWaat will square off against Chris Pielli.

U.S. representative races also went down with no trouble. Dave Galluch won the Republican Party nomination for the 5^th Congressional District seat and he will go up against incumbent Democrat Mar Gay Scanlon, while Republican Guy Ciarrocchi will challenge incumbent Democrat Chrissy Houlihan for the 6^th CD.

In the gubernatorial race, current state Attorney General Josh Shapiro will face Republican Doug Mastriano. For lieutenant governor, the November election will see Democrat Austin Davis face off against Clarice Shillinger.

The general election is Nov. 8 this year.

About Rich Schwartzman

Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.