Maine election officials oversee the recount of ballots for the Democratic primary in Senate District 24. (Courtesy of Andrew Francis)
After a recount, Denise Tepler is declared the winner of the Democratic primary for Maine Senate District 24.
Senate District 24 Democratic candidates Denise Tepler (left) and Jean Guzzetti (right). (Photos courtesy of the campaigns)
Jean Guzzetti, a legislative policy analyst, asked for the recount after initial totaling showed her losing by just 22 votes. The recount performed by the Department of the Secretary of State Thursday afternoon showed Tepler, a former state representative, with 1824 votes and Guzzetti with 1799.
Tepler now moves on to face Republican Jeffrey Pierce in the November election.
The candidates were present for the recount and each brought four volunteers to go through the ballots. Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said one volunteer from each candidate was paired together and joined by an election worker to ensure the fidelity of the recount.
Senate District 24 covers all of Sagadahoc County and Dresden in Lincoln County. Democrat Eloise Vitelli held the seat most recently, but is termed out having served four consecutive terms.
Because this race was as close as it was, state law allowed Guzzetti to ask for a recount at the public’s expense. During the original tally, Guzzetti had 1,795 votes and Tepler had 1,817.
When she requested the recount, Guzzetti said in a statement that she has complete confidence in the election process, but wanted to ensure that “every vote is counted and every voice is heard,” given the close margin.
Maine doesn’t do automatic recounts, so they need to be requested by the candidates. This was the only recount requested for the primary election on June 11, Bellows said.
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