WASHINGTON (TNS) — Former hedge fund CEO David McCormick, who the Associated Press declared the winner of Pennsylvania’s contentious U.S. Senate race, isn’t being invited to orientation Wednesday for newly elected members.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said the race wasn’t over yet.

“With over 100,000 ballots left to be counted in Pennsylvania, the race has not been decided,” a Schumer spokesman told Politico. “As is custom, we will invite the winner once the votes are counted.”

And U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., has yet to concede in what would be the closest Senate race in Pennsylvania history since the 17th Amendment provided for direct election of U.S. senators.

“Our commonwealth ran a free and fair election, and we are still waiting on the final results,” Casey said Monday on X. “Our election officials will continue counting ballots and ensure that Pennsylvanians’ voices are heard.”

McCormick said Monday he would be in Washington anyway.

“Looking forward to joining the Senate freshman class of 2025 for orientation this week,” he said on X. “I’m honored to represent the people of Pennsylvania, and will fight hard to make sure their voices are heard in Washington. Let’s get to work.”

Even if he cannot attend the official orientation, he can vote for the new Senate majority leader and attend any Republican-only meetings.

As of Monday, McCormick led Casey, the three-term incumbent, by slightly more than 40,000 votes, 49.01% to 48.43%. If McCormick wins by less than 0.5 percentage points, Pennsylvania law requires an automatic recount under Pennsylvania law unless Casey asks the Department of State not to have one.

“As state officials have made clear, counties across Pennsylvania are still processing ballots and need time to tabulate remaining votes,” Casey campaign spokeswoman Maddy McDaniel said Monday. “There are more than 100,000 ballots left to be counted — including tens of thousands of provisional ballots in counties favorable to Senator Casey — and just yesterday, officials reaffirmed that tens of thousands of mail ballots remain. Pennsylvanians deserve to have their voices heard, and the process of tabulating votes will continue in the coming days.”

The Casey campaign said there were 12,680 provisional ballots in Allegheny County, around 20,000 in Philadelphia and more than 15,000 in the Philadelphia suburbs.

“There was nothing wrong with a candidate who is behind in a close election … waiting for all the ballots to be counted before conceding,” David Becker, founder and executive director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research in Washington, D.C., said on X. “If appropriate, the candidate behind can then challenge through the legal process. But if they do, they will have to bring evidence sufficient to change the outcome.”

McCormick’s current edge would eclipse Republican Hugh Scott’s 76,635-vote win in 1964 as the smallest margin of victory in any U.S. Senate race in the Keystone State. Republican Pat Toomey won his Senate seat by 80,229 votes in 2010.

Muhlenberg College political science professor Christopher Borick said Casey just couldn’t withstand the Republican tide that also swept Donald Trump to victory in Pennsylvania and eventually the presidency.

“This was the stiffest headwind he ran into,” Borick said. “Sometimes you’re dominated by the cycle and there’s not much you can do about it. When some things are really close, it’s fair to ask if there is something you could do, but ultimately, sometimes the broader political environment is the ultimate driver.”

McCormick said Sunday on the Fox News Channel that he was “just now spending time” with the three Republicans seeking to succeed Mitch McConnell of Kentucky as leader of the Senate GOP conference: John Thune of South Dakota, John Cornyn of Texas and Rick Scott of Florida. One of the three will be majority leader come January.

All three would-be leaders said on the social media site X that McCormick should be invited to orientation. Thune said Schumer’s action was “beyond unacceptable.” Cornyn said it was “just pettiness.” Scott called it “disgusting.”

McCormick said he hasn’t decided yet on the person he wants to lead the Senate.

“They have all said that they will be in step with President Trump, and we have to be because we need this change,” McCormick said on Fox. “And it’s a real honor to be in this place at this moment because this Congress is going to have a huge influence in making dramatic changes in the direction of our country. Couldn’t be more important and it couldn’t be a bigger honor to represent Pennsylvania.”