Bevin wins recanvass; recount possible
FRANKFORT, Ky. – Matt Bevin appears to be the GOP nominee for governor after a recanvass of the state's voting machines showed that he eked out a slim 83-vote victory over Agriculture Commissioner James Comer in last week's election.
Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes said that the recanvass didn't change any votes for Bevin or Comer.
"We believe the state Board of Election will be certifying on June 8 the vote totals … and it will be Matt Bevin who will be the nominee of the Republican Party," she said in a news conference.
But what happens next is up to Comer, and yesterday afternoon he wouldn't say what his plans are and whether he would seek a more extensive recount.
"Commissioner Comer is currently in Florida spending time with his family. He will issue a statement tomorrow afternoon about the next steps he will take in this race," said a statement by Edwin King, Comer's campaign manager.
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He has until Friday to request the recount and any decision to do so would cast a pall over Saturday's statewide Lincoln Dinner in Lexington, which the GOP was billing as a "unity rally." Already, U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, who beat Bevin in a primary last year, had announced he has too much work to do in Washington and wouldn't be attending.
Bevin, however, moved in and claimed victory.
"It is an honor to be the Republican nominee for governor," according to a statement he issued. "I have tremendous respect for Commissioner Comer and am glad that we went through the recanvass process so that the integrity of our election was validated."
Grimes said she spoke with both Bevin and Comer before announcing the results of the recanvass to the media. In that discussion with Comer, Grimes said the issue of a recount never came up.
The largest recount in Kentucky's history happened in 1994 in Louisville's 3rd Congressional District after a recanvass showed that Democrat Mike Ward had beaten Republican Susan Stokes by 425 votes. The recount, which lasted more than a month, confirmed Ward as the winner by 473 votes.
The May 19 election brought one of the closest elections in Kentucky's history, with just a handful of votes separating the top two GOP candidates for governor. About 215,000 votes were cast for Republican candidates.
The recanvass also confirmed that State Rep. Ryan Quarles nudged out Richard Heath for the Republican agriculture commissioner nomination. Quarles saw his lead swell from 1,427 to 1,428 votes after the recanvass.
"What we have seen so far to date is that there have been no substantial changes to impact either the nominee for the Republican Party for governor, or the nominee for the Republican Party for the commissioner of agriculture," Grimes said in a news conference.
The election night tally showed that Bevin of Louisville withstood a furious charge in the western part of the state by Comer to scratch out an 83-vote victory. The recanvass confirmed that number.
Comer asked for the recanvass, which is an exercise in which county clerks check vote totals from machines against the numbers they forwarded to Grimes on election night to insure that no errors were made. He said on election night that he owed it to his supporters to request the recanvass.
Never has a recanvass changed the result of an election in Kentucky.
Grimes said there were minor changes in some vote totals but that they didn't impact any races.
Comer and Bevin didn't see their vote totals change but Hal Heiner did pick up an additional three absentee votes in Fayette County, Grimes said.
In the agriculture commissioner's race, Grimes said Quarles picked up two additional votes and Heath picked up one.
A recount is a more extensive review of the election in which actual ballots are examined. If Comer asks a Franklin Circuit Court judge to order a recount, Comer would have to pay for it.
Grimes said the judge would set the cost that Comer would have to pay for the recount, which some have estimated to be more than $300,000.
Joseph Gerth can be reached at (502) 582-4702.