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Recounts Possible In 2 House Districts; Turnout Sets A Record

A recount appears likely in Tuesday’s Republican primary in the 92nd state House district, which stretches from Huntersville south to Lake Wylie.

Incumbent Charles Jeter leads challenger Tom Davis by 28 votes, after the unofficial tally of early and Election Day votes.  But absentee and provisional ballots won’t be counted until later this week.

A recount also is possible in the 103rd House District Democratic primary. As of early Wednesday, Rochelle Rivas leads Noah Lieberman by just 10 votes. The winner of that race will face Republican incumbent Bill Brawley of Matthews in November.

DAVIS WILL SEEK RECOUNT

If Jeter holds his lead after that, Davis says he plans to ask for a recount, which is allowed when the margin between the candidates is less than 1 percent of the total votes.

Davis tells WFAE:  “It’s not over yet.”

The winner of the GOP nomination faces Democrat Chaz Beasley in the November general election.

Davis is a retired Air Force officer from Charlotte. He says he opposes new taxes, and I-77 tolls - a key issue in the race.  

Jeter is seeking his third term in the House. He’s a former Huntersville Town Commissioner. He also has opposed tolls and served on House committees for banking, transportation, wildlife resources and other issues.

The 92nd district has slightly more Democrats (20,609) than unaffiliated voters (19,266) or Republicans (18,235).

RECORD TURNOUT 

Mecklenburg Board of Elections Director Michael Dickerson says Tuesday's turnout set a new primary record in the county, at least for the number of people who voted.   

Nearly 208,000 voters (207,709) cast ballots.  That topped the last big primary turnout, in 2008, when President Barack Obama ran for his first term. Turnout then was about 194,000 (194,335).

As a percentage, turnout Tuesday was just under 32 percent. But that was lower than the 2008 primary, when 34 percent voted.

Statewide turnout was even higher than Mecklenburg, at 35 percent. That matched the 2012 primary but was slightly below 2008 (37 percent).

David Boraks previously covered climate change and the environment for WFAE. See more at www.wfae.org/climate-news. He also has covered housing and homelessness, energy and the environment, transportation and business.