Toomey delays voting on Election Day, wins Senate race against McGinty

Pat Toomey, the winner of the Pennsylvania senatorial race according to the Associated Press as of early Wednesday, spent Election Day in Allentown, and surprisingly, voting wasn’t his first priority.

According to the Washington Post, Toomey waited until 6:45 p.m. to cast his ballot for Donald Trump, only an hour and 15 minutes before Pennsylvania polls closed. Some alleged that Toomey, who had yet to endorse Donald Trump as of Election Day, put-off voting to avoid association with the polarizing GOP presidential candidate.

“Pat Toomey is intentionally waiting until millions of his constituents have already voted today before making clear to them who he supports to be our next commander in chief,” Josh Levitt, spokesman for the opposing Katie McGinty, said.

Toomey briefly explained his reluctance in an interview with a local Fox News affiliate after voting.

“I really only came to this decision in the past couple of days,” Toomey said. “Like a lot of Pennsylvanians and a lot of Americans, I am very disappointed with the choice that we have, [but] I can’t vote for Hillary Clinton under any scenario.”

Toomey has largely stayed silent on his long delay. Throughout Tuesday, the Congressional incumbent made himself scarce to reporters and interviewers.

To compensate for his Election Day inactivity, Toomey had spent much of the last week making his final pitch to Pennsylvania voters. On Saturday, he spoke in West Chester assuring crowds of his conservative economic and military values. On Monday, Toomey raced throughout the state, visiting areas ranging from Philadelphia to Pittsburg, to tout himself as a moderate politician who will stand up to radical liberals.

Toomey’s last minute campaigning was complemented on Penn’s campus by Penn Republicans, who largely spent the week canvassing for the Republican Senator.

“Today and on multiple days last week we were out on Locust Walk, handing out posters, fliers, pamphlets and the like in support of Toomey.” Penn College Republicans Vice President and College senior Matt Shapiro said.

But when questioned about their efforts’ effectiveness, Shapiro acknowledged, that as far as Penn goes, people’s choices were already set.

“I doubt [last-minute canvassing] was too effective ... I feel that at this point, people on campus made their minds up, and I doubt we could have convinced more than a few people here and there.”