As we go to press we await word on whether two local races for the state legislature will go to a recount.
As of this writing, Sen. Chris Johnson (D-Somerville) holds a spare 134-vote lead on his Republican challenger Rep. Les Fossel (R-Alna) and would-be District 51 Rep. Mick Devin (D-Newcastle) has an even slimmer 93-vote lead over his opponent, Alan “Buzz” Pinkham (R-Damariscotta).
If Fossel files for a recount, it will be his second in a bid to represent Lincoln County in the Senate. In 2002, Fossel lost a hotly contested recount to then Senator-elect Chris Hall.
Hall was subsequently summoned to Augusta where he took the oath of office with other state election winners and then joined with the Democratic majority 18-17, and ratified his own election results.
At the time, the Hall-Fossel contest turned into a political football, because the winner tipped the balance of power in the Senate. With Hall’s election, Democrats controlled both Houses of the Legislature and the Blaine House.
This time around the stakes are slightly lower, but no less profound.
A recount will almost certainly change the final figures, whether that will be enough to change the outcome will be determined. On election night 2002, Fossel was two votes short. The recount reset Hall’s winning margin to seven votes.
Whichever way Fossel and Pinkham decide, we support their decision. If they accept the unofficial results as tallied, they essentially endorse the work of the volunteers, ballot clerks and town officials, and by extension, accept the will of the people
If they ask for recount they will ensure that every ballot is examined again, closely, and that the will of the people is verified.
Party and politics aside, either way they go, their choice will be correct.
