In the hotly contested U.S. Senate race in Pennsylvania, Democratic Senator Bob Casey gave way to his Republican opponent, David McCormick.

Casey posted a video to his X account, formerly Twitter, in which he said: “I called Dave McCormick and congratulated him on his election as the United States Senator for Pennsylvania.”

Casey added, “Now that the first ballot count is complete, Pennsylvanians will be able to move on with the confidence that their voice was heard, regardless of whether it was their first vote or their last.”

McCormick released a statement in which he thanked Casey for his “dedication to improving our commonwealth.”

McCormick stated, “I will fight every day for every Pennsylvanian in the United States Senate.”

Casey announced his concession in a statement that said the Pennsylvania Senate election was “one of our Commonwealth’s closest ever, decided by less a quarter point.”

He also expressed his gratitude to “thousands of people” who had worked hard to ensure that all eligible votes cast were counted. This included election officials from all 67 counties.

He said: “I am proud of the work that we have done since Election Day in order to enfranchise all voters, regardless of who they voted for and ensure the democratic process can unfold.”

McCormick won the Pennsylvania Senate race in early this month, after the Associated Press called it for him. McCormick and Casey were separated at that time by only 0.2 percentage points, McCormick with 48.8 per cent and Casey with 48.6 per cent.

A recount was initiated in Keystone State on Wednesday because the difference between them was less than 0.5 percent. McCormick was ahead of Casey by nearly 16,000 votes on Thursday. AP reported that almost 7,000,000 ballots had been counted.

Pennsylvania Supreme Court dealt Casey’s campaign a further blow earlier this week when it ordered that counties stop counting mail-in votes that were incorrectly dated. Democratic Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro called on county election boards in the state to follow the ruling.

McCormick’s victory has helped to solidify Republican control of the U.S. Senate, which will begin in January. The GOP will hold 53 seats and Democrats as well as independent senators that vote with Democrats typically will hold 47.

The Republicans control the House of Representatives as well, which means that Donald Trump will be able to take office with an unified government, ready to implement his priorities, in January.