Pennsylvania's Republican primary race for U.S. Senate will head for a recount if neither candidate reaches at least a half-percent lead. Currently Mehmet Oz holds about an 1100 vote lead on Dave McCormick, which is a one-tenth-of-a-point advantage.
With the David McCormick-Mehmet Oz race so close, every vote counts and that makes a Friday ruling by the three-judge 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals a potential difference maker. The court ruled ballots that arrived on time but were not dated, which is required by state law, should be counted in a Lehigh County judicial race that remains undecided more than six months after the election. In March, a federal judge ruled those same ballots should not count. McCormick, who is trailing by about 1100 votes, is reportedly pushing for undated ballots to be counted. Oz, on the other hand, says they should not.
Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman is out of the hospital following a stroke more than a week ago and then having a pacemaker installed. His wife shared a video of the Senate hopeful flashing thumbs up as he walked out of Lancaster General Hospital Sunday. Fetterman won the Democratic primary while he was being treated. The 52-year-old politician said he was going to continue to recover at home so he could "get to 100-percent" and continue his efforts on the campaign trail.
Two local state Senate primary elections are still not decided. The latest numbers have Nick Miller leading Tara Zrinski by 101 votes in the 14th Senate District Democratic primary. In the 16th Senate District Republican race, Jarrett Coleman holds a 17-vote lead on incumbent Pat Browne. Those numbers are likely to change by undated disputed mail-in ballots, provisional ballots and absentee ballots mailed in by overseas military personnel. Lehigh County Board of Elections Chief Clerk Tim Benyo says his county has 54 undated ballots, which could impact each race. There's no word on how many such ballots exist in Northampton County, which could affect the Miller-Zrinski race, or in Bucks County, which may impact the Coleman-Browne contest.
The first annual James Stanko Memorial Softball Game was held over the weekend in Allentown's Alton Park. Stanko was an Allentown policeman since 2009 and one former colleague says Stanko deserves to be remembered. "He did a tremendous amount for the kids, for the department and for the City of Allentown," said one officer. Stanko, who was a Youth Detective in the Community Outreach Unit, died in January at the age of 51.