As of early Wednesday morning, there was no clear winner of the Republican primary for U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania, and speculation about a recount between the two front-runners was rampant.
In the six-way race for the seat of retiring GOP Sen. Pat Toomey, hedge fund billionaire Dave McCormick and celebrity physician Dr. Mehmet Oz were just a couple thousand votes apart.
Oz — who had the backing of former President Donald Trump — clung to a slim lead.
Under state law, an automatic recount is triggered if the margin of the winning candidate is 0.5% of the total vote or less. The secretary of state must order the recount no later than the third Wednesday after the election (which is June 1).
"This is the closest statewide primary vote I can recall," Lowman Henry of the conservative Lincoln Institute in Harrisburg, the state capital, told Newsmax. "Remember — the returns tonight are unofficial and the official count won't be available for days."
Trailing in third place was TV commentator Kathy Barnette, who surged in polls last week as Oz and McCormick slammed each other in a television war, but then faced accusations in the media of not providing full answers about her education and service in the U.S. Army Reserves.
"The dark horse move up the middle along the path the other two created was made for her," said Marjorie Dannenfelser of the conservative Susan B. Anthony List, which backed Barnette through an independent expenditure. "She could have used another week."
Oz and McCormick spent an estimated $55 million — primarily from their own personal fortunes and including independent efforts by supporters. With most polls showing him running third, McCormick over the weekend deployed $500,000 of his own money in TV spots showing his gun-toting mother whose nickname is "Annie Oakley" because, the candidate's bearded brother says, "she's the best shot in the family."
The easy winner of the three-way Democrat primary was arch-leftist Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, who suffered a stroke less than two days before the balloting.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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