McSally apparent CD2 winner; recount all but certain

McSally holds a 133-vote lead over incumbent Democrat Ron Barber.

However, with at least one legal challenge already filed over provisional ballots, and a full recount of the nearly 220,00 ballots cast, it will be weeks before a winner is officially declared to Southern Arizona voters.

Barber first won the seat in a 2012 special election to finish the term of his former boss, Gabrielle Giffords. Later that year he was re-elected to a two-year term of his own.

Pima County finished counting more than 4,700 provisional ballots Wednesday afternoon. While Barber’s total inched a few votes closer, McSally still maintained a small lead.

State law mandates a recount if the margin between the two candidates is 200 or fewer votes. The Secretary of State’s Office anticipates it will be early next month before the recount is done because the results first have to be certified, then a judge has to formally order the recount.

McSally campaign spokesman Patrick Ptak issued a statement saying the campaign is confident the retired Air Force colonel will prevail even after the recount.

“There are still ballots left to count, but we are confident that when all ballots are in, our lead will hold. We will continue to provide oversight of the process until then,” he said.

On Monday the McSally campaign filed a court action to stop the count until thousands of provisional ballots could be reviewed to make sure they were all properly signed by an election official, indicating they believe some unspecified number had not been.

Her campaign team gave no indication whether they will continue to pursue that complaint.

Barber for Congress spokeswoman Ashley Nash-Hahn said with the margin only 133 votes, the race is simply too close to call.

She hinted the Barber team is concerned about the hundreds of ballots that have been rejected by Pima County.

“We remain committed to protecting the integrity of the vote in Southern Arizona. In Pima County, 782 voters had their ballots rejected, and those votes have not been counted,” she said. “During the legal recount process, we will work to see that every lawful vote is counted and that the voices of Southern Arizona are heard.”

She gave no indication whether the Barber campaign would pursue a separate court action over those ballots.

Chief Deputy Recorder Chris Roads said the majority of those ballots were disqualified either “because the person was not registered to vote or because they voted in the wrong district.”

While there are still about 200 conditional provisional votes the Pima County Elections Department could count, it is unknown how many fall within CD2, or how many will actually ever be counted.

Today is the deadline for those who cast a conditional provisional ballot to bring their identification to the County Recorder’s Office before their ballots can be verified and counted.