Bevin, Comer election outcome a week away

Louisville businessman Matt Bevin appeared to hold off Agriculture Commissioner James Comer by 83 votes Tuesday night in the Republican gubernatorial primary, a cliffhanger that likely won't be ultimately decided for days.

Comer, speaking to supporters at the Capital Plaza Hotel in Frankfort, pledged to call for a recanvass. "It's so close and so many people have worked so hard," he said.

With 100 percent of the vote in, Comer and Bevin both had 32.9 percent of the vote. Hal Heiner finished third with 27.1 percent and Will T. Scott was last with 7.2 percent.

Battling the other Republicans and claims by a former girlfriend that he abused her while they were in college, Comer was in third place for much of the night before gaining ground in Western Kentucky. In the end, it didn't appear to be enough.

RELATED:A recanvass isn't same thing as a recount

In his speech, Bevin claimed victory.

"For those of you in the media who thought Republican politics in the state of Kentucky was boring, think again," Bevin said, speaking at 10:15 p.m. at the Galt House in Louisville.

In the speech, he called for repealing Common Core, passing legislation that would allow people to work in union businesses without paying union dues or fees, and the dismantling of the kynect insurance exchange in 2016.

RELATED:Conway easily wins Democratic nomination

"We are an exceptional state but we have failed to live up to our own greatness," he said.

If the numbers hold, it assures that for the first time in 60 years, Kentucky will elect a governor from Jefferson County because Attorney General Jack Conway scored a lopsided victory on the Democratic side over Geoff Young, a retired engineer from Lexington.

Bevin, along with running mate Jenean Hampton, made his push in the waning weeks of the campaign as Comer and Heiner squabbled. Comer accused Heiner's campaign of trying to push the abuse allegations through a Lexington blogger who wrote extensively about them.

Heiner fought back in the last days of the race, airing a television advertisement that mentioned the abuse claims.

That created an opening that appeared wide enough for Bevin to squeeze through.

Buoyed by tea party support, Bevin posted his strongest numbers in Northern Kentucky and a swath along the Ohio River that ran almost continuously from Ashland to Union County.

The race represented redemption for Bevin, who got shellacked last year when he challenged U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell in the GOP primary. The question will be whether he can unite the Republican party behind him since he refused to endorse McConnell following his loss last year.

He got a good start. Heiner said that he would back Bevin, and Comer said that if his recanvass fails, he will campaign door to door with him.

Under state law, Comer has until 4 p.m. May 26 to ask for a recanvass in writing. In a recanvass, the state Board of Elections simply checks voting machines to make sure the right numbers were recorded. Any recanvass would be done at 9 a.m. May 28.

Comer entered the race as the heavy favorite, having spent the last four years setting up for this run. Heiner, powered by $4.2 million he contributed to his own campaign, used an early media blitz to grab the lead in polls.

But Heiner began to slip as the race got nasty.

The last Bluegrass Poll showed Bevin, Comer and Heiner essentially in a dead heat.

The race's nastiness included attacks on Comer because of a vote as a state representative to increase his own pension and attacks on Bevin that he accepted a government grant for a business he owns and a question about whether he overstated his qualifications on a Linkedin page.

And it centered around the allegations that Comer had abused a former girlfriend in college. Comer vehemently denied the allegations.

"We overcame so much money, we overcame bad press from the newspapers of the state," he said Tuesday night. "We overcame a lot. And I owe it to our supporters to ask for a recanvass."

In the last week of the campaign, Bevin tried to capitalize on the battle between Comer and Heiner, running a television commercial that portrayed them as two children in a food fight.

Heiner conceded about 8:40 p.m., congratulating Bevin and never mentioning Comer. At that point, it appeared that Bevin would win easily.

"Ours is a great state and I'll never forget your kindness and theirs. Now the outcome of this election is not what we had hoped for, not what we had worked for," Heiner told the somber crowd at the Parklands in Louisville.

With Bevin, Conway got the opponent he wanted. At Churchill Downs on Derby Day, when he was asked his pick in the horse race, Conway said, "Bevin."

The election spun wildly off topic three weeks before the election when the Lexington Herald-Leader published rumors that Comer had abused a college girlfriend. Those rumors had been widely circulated on a blog since last summer.

Within days, Marilyn Thomas, the girlfriend, said in a letter to The Courier-Journal that Comer had in fact hit her during a two-year relationship, emotionally abused her, drove her to Louisville for an abortion and even called her parents' Union County home to threaten her.

Asked if the allegation made the difference in the election, Comer said, "It sure didn't help any. It sure didn't help any."

Reporter Joseph Gerth can be reached at (502) 582-4702. Reporters Tom Loftus, Mike Wynn and Phillip Bailey contributed to this report.

WHAT IS A RECANVASS

A recanvass is essentially a review of the vote totals in each county. County clerks will review the absentee votes and check the printouts to make sure the numbers were correct when they were transmitted to the State Board of Elections

State law allows for re-canvassing only if a county clerk or a county board of elections notices a discrepancy or if a candidate makes a written request to the secretary of state.

Comer said late Tuesday that he would ask for a recanvass, and if he gains votes in it, Comer said he may ask for a "full-fledged recount." A recount is a more elaborate procedure that can only be ordered by a circuit court judge and includes an actual examination of the ballots.

Under state law, Comer has until 4 p.m. May 26 to request the recanvass, which would be conducted at 9 a.m. on May 28. He would then have until the next day to ask a Franklin Circuit judge to order a recount.

GOVERNOR

Republicans

Matt Bevin 70,479 (32.9%)

James Comer 70,396( 32.9%)

Hal Heiner 57,948 (27.1%)

Will T. Scott 15,364 (7.2%)

Democrats

Jack Conway 140,627 (78.8%)

Geoff Young 37,887 (21.2%)