Posted on
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Walker Campaign Calls for Recount in Tight State Race
By KELLY GOOCH
Staff Writer
Staff Writer
A recount was officially requested for the District 11 state representative race between Democratic incumbent Chuck Hopson and Republican Brian Walker on Friday.
Unofficial results showed Hopson with 26,030 votes, 49.271 percent, and Walker with 25,928 votes, 49.078 percent.
District 11 covers Cherokee, Panola, Rusk and Houston counties.
Texas Secretary of State spokesman Randall Dillard said the final canvass by Governor Rick Perry for the election results was Wednesday.
"We made the request, obviously, due to the closeness of this race. ... A lot of Brian supporters just wanted to be reassured," said Cory Kennedy, general consultant with the Walker campaign.
He said all ballots were asked to be recounted, no matter which county they come from or whether they are electronic or paper.
Kennedy said electronic machines were used in Cherokee and Rusk counties and said the campaign got credible reports that some votes may not have been counted properly or adequately.
"We're not targeting any specific county," Kennedy said. "Our goal is just to get every vote and make sure it's counted."
He said they have already shelled out a $3,500 deposit for the recount.
"The deposit is used to reimburse the counties for expenses incurred to do the recount," Dillard said.
And Hopson said Walker's request for a recount did not come as a surprise to him.
"It's within the margin the state allows," he said. "We anticipated this all along."
Although a recount was anticipated, Hopson said he is ready right now for there to be closure and for the election to be over.
"We knew it was going to be close, but we didn't know it was going to be quite this close," he said.
Dillard said the Secretary of State's office has 48 hours to review the request to be certain it meets statutory requirements.
If the request is approved, he said the office would let the counties involved know a recount will take place.
Generally, a recount has to start within seven days after the request is approved, Dillard said.
Kennedy said he expects the recount to be approved, but if it is rejected because of a problem with how the request was filled out, Walker could still amend the request and file again.
According to Hopson, Dec. 1 is being looked at as a recount date for Rusk County, and he said he should know about the other counties Monday.
"I'm very confident about our election process," Hopson said. "We think the outcome will be the same."
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