A Single Vote Puts Candidate Into Office

'I've had 25 people tell me they are the one person': Winner of Kentucky state House race
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Nov 16, 2018 4:30 PM CST
This Kentucky Race Was Decided by One Vote
In this Nov. 6, 2018, file photo, people vote at the the Carnegie/Eva G. Farris Education Center in Covington, Ky.   (Meg Vogel/The Cincinnati Enquirer via AP, File)

Mary Beverly Goetz is 76, uses a walker, and recently had surgery to remove a cancerous tumor. Worried her health issues would prevent her from voting for Democrat Jim Glenn in her western Kentucky state House district, she requested an absentee ballot by mail and sent it in weeks ahead of the election to make sure her vote was counted. Glenn won by one vote. "It made me feel good," Goetz says. "It made you feel like your vote really counted." As the nation watches election officials in Florida and Georgia painstakingly review results in high-profile Senate and governor's races, many less prominent races across the country were decided by agonizingly close margins. Glenn's victory in Owensboro, Ky., was one of six state House races decided by just a handful of votes, per the AP. In District 27, for example, Democrat Jeff Greer lost to Nancy Tate by six votes.

Meanwhile, over in District 96, Republican Jill York lost to Democrat Kathy Hinkle by five votes. In District 91, Republican Toby Herald lost to Democrat Cluster Howard by seven votes. And in Buckhorn, a coin flip allowed alcohol to be sold at a state park after an election there ended in a tie. It was at least the third time in 2018 a coin flip decided a tied Kentucky election. All House races were upheld Thursday by county boards of elections when a review of voting machine results didn't change the outcomes. "I've had 25 people tell me they are the one person that voted for me," says Glenn, who spent five terms in the legislature before he narrowly lost in 2016. Republican Rep. DJ Johnson, who lost to Glenn, says he will ask for a recount. The Kentucky State Board of Elections will meet next week to certify the results. (More Election 2018 stories.)

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