Wednesday, November 22, 2006
The challenger would have had to pay for a recount.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -- More than a week after Republican Rep. Heather Wilson claimed a razor-thin election victory, her Democratic challenger conceded Tuesday, saying a recount would cost too much and there was no guarantee it would reverse the result.
In Ohio's 2nd District, Rep. Jean Schmidt, a Republican, clinched re-election Tuesday when additional ballot counts gave her an insurmountable edge of about 3,300 votes over Democratic challenger Victoria Wulsin.
Wilson won by 875 votes -- the final tally showed the five-term congresswoman with 105,921 votes to 105,046 votes for Democrat Patricia Madrid, the state attorney general.
The difference was less than one-half of 1 percent, which in some states would have triggered an automatic recount, but New Mexico does not have an automatic recount law.
Madrid could have requested a recount, but she would have had to pay for it, and she estimated a districtwide recount could reach 300,000.
State Democratic Party Chairman John Wertheim has accused Republicans of "systematic vote suppression" in New Mexico, a reference to accusations that Republicans called Democratic voters and gave them erroneous polling information. Although Madrid lost, her party succeeded in taking control of the U.S. House.
Unresolved
A handful of other House races remained unresolved:
North Carolina, 8th District. Rep. Robin Hayes, a Republican, led Democrat Larry Kissell by 339 votes after results were certified Friday night. Kissell asked for a recount, which began Monday.
Ohio, 15th District. Rep. Deborah Pryce, a member of the House Republican leadership, led Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy by 3,717 votes Tuesday amid a count of provisional ballots.
In Florida, state officials certified Republican Vern Buchanan the winner over Democrat Christine Jennings by 369 votes, or less than 0.02 percent. Jennings contested the election Monday, arguing touch-screen voting machines had malfunctioned and asking a judge to order a new election.
Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., the subject of an FBI bribery investigation, will face fellow Democrat Karen Carter in a Dec. 9 runoff, and Rep. Henry Bonilla, R-Texas, will face Democratic former Rep. Ciro Rodriguez in a yet-unscheduled runoff.
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