A candidate for the Kentucky House of Representatives plans to request a recount after coming up 31 votes short in the Democratic primary.
Retired teacher Linda Story Edwards was the Democratic nominee for the sixth district State House seat (Marshall, Lyon, part of McCracken counties) in 2018, losing to now-State Rep. Chris Freeland in the general election. Edwards campaigned in the 2020 Democratic primary for a chance to take on Freeland again in November. The primary is a partial rematch of the 2018 Democratic contest, with former union leader Al Cunningham challenging Edwards in her quest for a rematch with Freeland.
After in-person vote totals from June 23 showed Cunningham leading the race, Edwards pulled ahead as partial mail-in results trickled in June 30. Unofficial results from 7:24 a.m. June 30 shared by Edwards put her ahead of Cunningham by less than 200 votes. Edwards used the data to declare victory in the primary.
“Looks like I have won! I so appreciate your votes. Now I NEED your HELP!!” Edwards wrote in a Facebook post.
Results reported hours later by the State Board of Elections put Cunningham in the lead with 2,931 votes, compared to 2,900 for Edwards. Edwards told WKMS she declared victory based on numbers shared with her by friends from outside of western Kentucky. She said state Democratic Party leaders offered congratulations and offers of assistance for the general election.
“I was just on cloud nine. Then, come to find out, I guess they didn’t get all the numbers in before they put the final tally on the TV screen. To my dismay, I fell short by 31 votes,” Edwards said.
Edwards said she plans to request a recount as soon as Thursday, July 2, but she said she plans to “mellow just a little bit” before taking concrete action. In a Facebook comment, she described herself as “embarrassed and hurt” due to the mistaken victory claim and subsequent retraction. She said a recount is appropriate because of the tight margins in the race and the dedication of her supporters.
“I just feel like out of respect for my supporters, my voters, and for me and all the work that I’ve put into this, I just deserve a recount,” she explained.
Cunningham said the numbers he saw throughout the day, reported by county clerk’s offices, matched those that were reported to the Secretary of State’s office. He said he understands why Edwards would want to seek a recount.
“This is a good example of every vote counts,” Cunningham said. “I had anticipated it with it being that close. If the shoe was on the other foot, I might have considered it myself.”
Cunningham said he is not frustrated or upset and looks forward to a fair conclusion to the primary race.
Lyon County Clerk Lori Duff said the recount process requires all ballots to be inspected and retabulated to ensure accuracy. Duff said she has never conducted a recount before, but has participated in election recanvasses (in which receipts from voting machines are checked for reporting errors).
Duff said, as of July 1, she has not received a formal request from either campaign for a recanvass or recount.
