State Rep. Mike Cabell conceded defeat Monday in the extremely close state 117th House District Republican primary election.
“While this was not the outcome we had hoped for, I am incredibly grateful for the journey, the support, and the honor of serving this amazing community,” Cabell said in a statement.
Cabell had five calendar days to ask the Luzerne County Court for a recount, county assistant solicitor Gene Molino said. So he would had to ask for a recount by either Sunday or by the time the county Board of Elections & Registration met Monday morning, Molino said. He did neither, and the board voted to officially certify the result at the meeting.
Last Monday, the elections board preliminarily certified challenger Jamie Walsh won the nomination by four votes – 4,735 to 4,731. That came three days after a state Supreme Court ruling found one provisional ballot should count and another shouldn’t, the final court decision in months of appeals.
Walsh, 49, a gutter installation company owner from Ross Township, led unofficially by eight votes on election night April 23. He never fell behind as more complete counts and court appeals cut that in half.
The 117th district includes Black Creek, Butler, Conyngham, Dennison, Dorrance, Fairmount, Foster, Hollenback, Hunlock, Huntington, Lake, Lehman, Nescopeck, Ross, Salem, Slocum, Sugarloaf and Union townships and Conyngham, Dallas, Freeland, Harveys Lake, Jeddo, Nescopeck, New Columbus, Nuangola, Penn Lake Park, Shickshinny and White Haven boroughs.
There is no Democrat on the ballot in the 117th for November's general election, which means Walsh should cruise to election.
