Oz currently has a roughly 900-vote lead over former hedge fund executive Dave McCormick in the Republican nomination contest. CNN has not made any career projections.
“I’m lucky to have won the alleged Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate,” Oz says in the live video on camera. “This was a tough campaign, I traveled everywhere. You guys were very honest sharing with me thoughts, concerns you had, you don’t feel like you’re being heard.”
Oz continues in the video to further position himself as a candidate in the general election, telling voters that he will “reach every corner of this commonwealth,” work with “anyone with good ideas,” and “unite” for ” solve everything “. of our problems “.
Acting Pennsylvania Secretary of State Leigh Chapman announced Wednesday that the margin between McCormick and Oz was within the 0.5% automatic counting threshold after all Pennsylvania counties reported their results on Tuesday. state officials.
McCormick, as the second-most-voted, may have chosen to waive his right to a count, but decided not to.
Counties could start counting as early as Friday, but they should start no later than June 1. Counties must complete the count before noon on June 7 and submit their results before noon on June 8. In the counting process, county election boards must count the ballots. using a different device than the one used in the initial tab or the ballots can be counted by hand.
Oz’s decision to declare himself the alleged Republican candidate follows the example of his most prominent supporter, former President Donald Trump, who accessed his social media platform, Social Truth, the day after the election. May 17, with the count still in progress. , to urge Oz to “declare victory.”
“It makes them much harder to fool with the ballots they ‘just found,'” Trump said, echoing his false claims about the 2020 presidential election without providing any evidence to support his claim.
The Republican primary winner will face Democratic Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman in one of the major Senate races in this year’s midterm elections. Republicans are considering retaining the seat of Republican Sen. Pat Toomey, who is stepping down as key to his hopes of capturing a Senate majority, while Democrats see seats reversed in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, both US-occupied states. now President Joe Biden in 2020, they are the best. way to protect yourself from losses elsewhere.
CNN’s Paul LeBlanc and Eric Bradner contributed to this report.