Confident McSally declares victory

When those votes were counted, along with the last smattering of conditional provisional ballots, Republican Martha McSally had inched further ahead of Democratic U.S. Rep. Ron Barber, by a count of 28 more votes.

She now has an advantage of 161 votes in the Congressional District 2 race.

While McSally claimed victory shortly after the new totals were announced, the Barber campaign issued a statement saying he is not yet ready to concede and is pinning his hopes on the mandatory recount to be done early next month.

Although McSally’s lead grew during the final tally, her 161-vote margin is still not enough to forestall a recount, which is required by state law when the difference between the top two candidates is 200 votes or fewer.

McSally gave a short victory speech at a party with about 150 supporters at El Molinito restaurant shortly after the new totals were announced.

She also issued a written statement saying, “After nearly three years, some twenty million dollars in ads, and two campaigns, it’s time to come together.

“We are united in our love for Southern Arizona — for the people and places that make this unique community our home. It’s time to move from campaigning to governing and working together to bring more opportunity here and move Southern Arizona forward.

“I thank Congressman Barber for being willing to stand up and serve as he has. No doubt, he has gained a lot of experience serving this community and I intend to seek his input and assistance to best represent Southern Arizonans and ensure constituent services are kept at their highest level.”

“While we still have a recount to go,” McSally continued, “we expect similar results and will provide the necessary oversight to ensure accurate results.”

Barber spokeswoman Ashley Nash-Hahn said McSally’s victory claim was premature.

“A few days after asking a judge not to count the votes of hundreds of Arizonans, Martha McSally is ahead by 7 hundredths of a percentage point,” Nash-Hann said. “Arizona’s law calls for a mandatory recount with a margin this tight.

“Instead of declaring victory, we should unite in the commitment to count the votes of Southern Arizonans, and respect the outcome when it is final.”

The 212 newly found ballots had been placed in envelopes for the Continental Elementary School District special election.

Early voters in Continental were sent duplicate ballots after an error was discovered on the first ballot.

They were instructed to put their special election ballots in an envelope separate from their general-election ballots.

But as election officials were preparing 7,034 vote-by-mail ballots from the school district, they found 212 envelopes that contained both ballots.

Those ballots were processed and ready for counting Wednesday afternoon, Chief Deputy County Recorder Chris Roads said.

The new ballots from Continental are in addition to 287 countywide, conditional provisional ballots that were likewise counted. Eighty-nine of them were from CD2.

The remainder were from precincts scattered across the county and did not affect any other race outcomes.