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Recount gives Snow victory in District 50 Senate race
By Derek Hodges
A recount in the race for the District 50 seat in the N.C. Senate was completed on Wednesday, Nov. 17, and it came out in favor of former District Court Judge John Snow.
Prior to the recount, totals indicated Snow, a Democrat, was the winner over Repbublican incumbent Bob Carpenter with 35,643 votes to Carpenter's 35,336. Liberterian Ben Lamm had 1,162.
After the recount, totals were changed, but the vote difference between the two front-runners narrowed only slightly.
Democratic Senator-elect John Snow spent much of the afternoon Wednesday, Nov. 17, talking to reporters after being informed that a recount in the race for the N.C. Senate District 50 seat had confirmed him the winner. Snow narrowly edged the incumbent, Republican Bob Carpenter, by 284 votes.
As of Monday (Nov. 22) the State Board of Elections Web site reported the tally at 35,722 votes for Snow, 35,438 for Carpenter, and 1,164 for Lamm.
Though the difference of 284 was still less than 1 percent of the total vote, making it the second-closest race in the state, Snow said he didn't expect a continuation of the dispute over the seat.
"The only challenge (Republicans) asked for was a recount," Snow said. "I don't believe there is any challenge left to them."
Carpenter called Snow and left a message of congratulations shortly after the recount was finished, Snow said.
"He just left me a message on my answering machine congratulating me and wishing me well," Snow said.
While he lost votes in some counties, Snow gained nine votes in Jackson County. The final Jackson County tally was 7,787 for Snow and 6,022 for Carpenter.
"I don't begrudge Senator Carpenter asking for this recount; he had a perfect right to," Snow said. "We are very relieved to have this over with."
While Snow has no hard feelings over Carpeneter's calling for the recount, he doesn't know if he would have done the same if the small margin had shown Carpenter the winner instead of him.
"I might not have called for a recount, but I'm not a 16–year incumbent," Snow said.
Snow said Carpenter ran a good race and had a long record of service for the people of Western North Carolina.
Snow said he is looking forward to his chance to build a reputation for working for the people of the region.
"I look forward to going (to Raleigh) and representing the people of the 50th District. I want to make sure they get their fair share of the state's resources," Snow said.
There is work to be done to make sure this end of the state is adequately represented with regard to road construction, school improvement, help for the elderly and unemployed, recruitment of jobs, better health care, and treatment of state employees, Snow said.
"I think it's important that I try to do that, to follow through with what I said I would do," Snow said.
He said he plans to write a letter to his supporters, beginning it with a sigh of relief.
"I would like to thank them for their support for me. I'm humbled by the support I got from the people of Western North Carolina and I look forward to going to work for them," Snow said.
Election officials were scheduled to meet Tuesday, Nov. 23, to certify the results of the election. Two other elections remain undecided pending action by the State Board or the courts.
In the race for state superintendent of public instruction, Republican Bill Fletcher has filed a suit challenging results that show Democrat June Atkinson the winner. The State Board site showed Atkinson with 1,655,719 votes to Fletcher's 1,647,184.
Fletcher is arguing that provisional ballots should not be counted in state races if they were cast outside the voter's precinct.
Additionally, results in the race for commissioner of agriculture between Democratic incumbent Britt Cobb and Republican Steve Troxler are being contested. The State Board site showed Troxler with 1,666,197 votes and Cobb with 1,663,910.
According to published reports, 4,438 early votes in Carteret County were lost when a voting machine failed. Cobb lost in Carteret by more than 4,700 votes, according to the State Board site. While the lost votes couldn't mean a win in Carteret for Cobb, they could change the statewide tally to favor him if they went for him at about a two to one ratio
That seems unlikely in heavily Republican Carteret, but the chance still exists for a new statewide election in the race if the State Board decides that is necessary. Other solutions include another election in Carteret or another vote by only those whose votes were lost.
Decisions should come in both contests within the next few weeks.
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