Southern Arizonans will find out Wednesday who will represent them in Congressional District 2. A mandatory recount was triggered because the tally separating incumbent Democrat Ron Barber from Martha McSally, his Republican challenger, in the November general election was less than 200 votes. After completing an electronic recount of all the ballots cast for each candidate last week, a hand count of a sample of ballots from five percent of the precincts — the last step in the two-week recount process — was completed Monday morning.
In the original count, McSally — a retired Air Force colonel — had a 161-vote lead. Barber, a former staffer for U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, was hoping for a second full term in office. Both he and and his boss were shot in a Jan. 8, 2011, assassination attempt on Giffords’ life that left six people dead and 11 others injured.
Several legal challenges to the recount process were thrown out of court earlier this month. The Barber campaign said in a statement Monday it wanted “to make sure every lawful vote counts and that the recount process is open and transparent in order to ensure the full faith of Southern Arizonans in the outcome of the election.”
Full Article: Recount over: McSally, Barber await fate Wednesday.