This bombshell may have been the GOP’s biggest Senate shocker of all

08 November 2024

The disappointments that Democrats suffered on Election Night 2024 included not only President-elect Donald Trump's decisive victory over Vice President Kamala Harris, but also, losing control of the U.S. Senate.

Republicans ousted Sen. Jon Tester in Montana and Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio. But the biggest U.S. Senate shocker of Election Night may be the defeat of three-term Sen. Bob Casey Jr.

The Associated Press (AP) has called Pennsylvania's U.S. Senate race for Republican Dave McCormick, who narrowly defeated Casey Jr.

Like his father, the late Pennsylvania Gov. Bob Casey Sr., the younger Casey has been a fixture in Pennsylvania politics.

The older Casey, a critic of abortion, had his share of detractors in the Democratic Party's liberal/progressive wing. But his admirers — including former Pennsylvania Govs. Ed Rendell and Tom Ridge, and the late GOP Sen. Arlen Specter — applauded his ability to get things done along bipartisan lines.

Similarly, Casey Jr. ran as a staunch centrist when he ousted far-right Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pennsylvania) in the blue wave of 2006. Casey Jr., reelected in 2012 and 2018, had a friendly rapport with GOP senators like Utah's Mitt Romney, Maine's Susan Collins and Alaska's Lisa Murkowski.

But in 2024, McCormick became the Republican who was able to oust three-term Casey Jr.

On X, formerly Twitter, Democratic strategist Jordan Rhone described Casey Jr.'s defeat as a major upset.

Rhone tweeted, "This one is heartbreaking. @Bob_Casey has been a lifelong fighter for Pennsylvanians for nearly 30 years as an elected official. Losing him is like losing the father of Democratic politics in PA."

Journalist Sarah Wilson tweeted that Casey Jr., after 18 years, had been "edged out by McCormick by just 30,000 votes."

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