UPDATED @ 4:15 p.m. Wednesday: The Saidel campaign now says it will no longer pursue a recount, effectively giving the Democratic nomination to Scott Conklin. Read our latest story here.
UPDATED @ 10:30 a.m. Wednesday: Jonathan Saidel, in a prepared statement on Wednesday morning, confirmed that he will let a recount proceed in the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor. See below for details.
The latest vote counts still put Centre Countian Scott Conklin several thousand ballots ahead of Jonathan Saidel, his closest rival in the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor.
But the race isn’t over yet, a Saidel aide said Tuesday night. He said thousands of ballots from last week’s primary remain uncounted and could tighten the contest even more.
Shortly after 5 p.m., the Pennsylvania Department of State announced the newly verified, unofficial tallies show Conklin, of Rush Township, with 318,310 votes statewide. Saidel, of Philadelphia, has 314,448 votes — a difference of less than one half of a percentage point.
Conklin’s margin of apparent victory is slim enough to trigger an automatic recount, according to state rules. Secretary of the Commonwealth Pedro Cortes has until Thursday to issue an order for a recount.
In a press release late Tuesday, the state department indicated that Cortes will use the current unofficial returns to decide whether to press ahead with a recount. Under state rules, the ‘defeated candidate’ could halt a recount if he or she concedes.
A recount would cost the state about $500,000, according to the state department.
But the Saidel campaign understands that nearly 4,000 provisional and absentee ballots statewide have yet to be counted, Saidel spokesman Marty Marks said Tuesday night. He said more than half of those are in Montgomery and Philadelphia counties, ‘the two counties where Jonathan performed best.’
‘Who could ask us to make a decision to walk away from a recount when there are (nearly) 4,000 votes that haven’t been counted yet?’ Marks said. ‘ … With those votes yet to be counted, we believe that will cause the gap to close even more, so we’ll be looking at an even tighter race than what you’re seeing right now.’
Marks said the Saidel campaign ‘is inclined to let the law intervene and take its natural course.’ Later, in a prepared statement Wednesday morning, Saidel said that ‘I believe a recount is in the best interest of our political system, and we look forward to participating in the process as it moves forward.’
‘State law provides for an automatic recount to ensure that Pennsylvania elections represent the highest principles of democracy,’ Saidel said in the statement. He said that he supports a recount ‘in that spirit, and out of respect to the hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians who placed their trust in me in this election.’
State department spokeswoman Leslie Amoros confirmed Tuesday night that between 3,000 and 4,000 provisional and absentee ballots have yet to be counted. But those include both Democratic and Republican ballots, she said. Conklin, a state representative, and Saidel, a former Philadelphia city controller, appear as candidates only on the Democratic ballots.
It was not immediately clear late Tuesday how many of the uncounted ballots could affect the Democratic race.
Amoros said the uncounted ballots were last-minute arrivals at county-level election offices this week. A recount would take them into account.
‘We believe it’s totally up to the honorable gentleman from Philadelphia how he wishes to proceed,’ said Tor Michaels, a campaign spokesman for Conklin. ‘We are giving him the time and respect necessary to process the information at hand.’
The Conklin campaign has already indicated that it would not advocate for a recount.
‘We believe that once those (outstanding) ballots are counted, and if the Saidel camp wishes to have a recount, we humbly and strongly believe that we’ll find out what we know already,’ Michaels said.
If a recount were to proceed, it would need to be complete by June 8, according to state law. Results would be reported by June 9.
The winner of the Democratic nomination will face Bucks County commissioner Jim Cawley, the GOP nominee for lieutenant governor, in the November general election.
Earlier coverage: Conklin Not Pushing For Recount; Saidel Campaign Withholding Judgment
