There's still no winner declared in the tight Pennsylvania U.S. Senate race. Republican Dave McCormick continues to lead Democrat incumbent Bob Casey, but that lead has shrunk since Tuesday night. According to the latest numbers, McCormick holds roughly a 27,000 vote edge on Casey. That figures to less than one half of a percentage point. In Election Day voting, McCormick received 600,000 more votes than Casey. However, in mail-in voting Casey had nearly the same advantage over McCormick.
The Poconos officially have a new congressman. Democrat Matt Cartwright yesterday conceded the race to Republican Rob Bresnahan. Bresnahan won the seat by about two points, or about seven-thousand votes. Cartwright has served as the Poconos congressman since 2012. Wednesday, he said it was an honor to serve northeastern Pennsylvania. Bresnahan says he's ready to get to Washington, D.C. and start the work of the new Congress. He will be sworn into office in January.
After losing Pennsylvania in 2020, Donald Trump won it Tuesday and only lost eight counties. Trump took Berks County 26,000 votes, Bucks County by 6100 votes, Carbon County by 12,000 votes, Monroe County by just 900 votes, Northampton County by 3900 votes and Schuylkill County by a whopping 31,000 votes. Kamala Harris won Lehigh County by 4500 votes.
Governor Phil Murphy pledges to work with President-elect Trump but also says he'll fight him when necessary. Murphy says he'll fight Trump like he did during the first Trump administration over issues such as abortion, immigrant rights and gun control. However, Murphy says they also showed they can work with Trump and his team to make life better for New Jerseyans. Murphy points to accomplishments like the pandemic response and the Portal North Bridge project. Murphy adds the peaceful transfer of power must be respected and is calling on Garden State residents to unite during this time of division.
One person is dead after a Wednesday night crash on the Northeast Extension. The accident involved a car and tractor-trailer on the Northeast Extension in Penn Forest Township just before 9:30 Wednesday night. One person was killed in the crash. The driver of the tractor-trailer was not injured. A stretch of the Northeast Extension was closed until early this morning. The investigation continues.
Crews are continuing to make progress fighting a large brush fire on Blue Mountain. Fire officials believe they have stopped the blaze from growing any further. The fire has burned almost 600 acres since it started last weekend. Crews say they are now in the "mop up" phase of containment.
Attorneys for accused murderer Bryan Kohberger will ask an Idaho judge today to consider removing the death penalty as punishment in the event their client is convicted. The Poconos native and DeSales University graduate is accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November 2022 who were discovered stabbed to death in an off-campus home. Prosecutors say Kohberger's DNA was found on a knife sheath that was left at the crime scene. His trial is set for August of next year.
The Lehigh Valley is in desperate need of rain, but Accu-Weather's Joe Lundberg says we'll remain high and dry until Sunday at the earliest. "Most of Sunday is going to be dry before there's probably a chance of rain late Sunday and Sunday night. But, it's not going to be a lot, probably a quarter-inch of rain at best," Lundberg says. For the entire year, Lundberg says this stretch of very dry weather has left us five inches of rainfall below average for the year to date.