Iowa’s House District 81 race has been nothing short of chaotic.
After a series of four recounts, Republican Luana Stoltenberg has officially defeated Democrat Craig Cooper for Iowa’s House District 81 seat.
Per ABC affiliate WQAD, the recount board carried out both a machine recount and a hand recount.
The machine recount declared Democrat Craig Cooper as the winner.
However, a hand recount revealed Stoltenberg won the race by 11 votes garnering 5,073 votes to Cooper’s 5,062 votes.
The Iowa House District 81 race has taken another twist, after the latest ballot recount determined that Republican Luana Stoltenberg is the winner. https://t.co/f5xAS7ufcA
— WQAD (@wqad) December 8, 2022
WQAD reported:
Despite Cooper winning the machine recount, Tompkins said Iowa law dictates that the recount board can choose which results to use when certifying their report. That’s why the recount board chose to certify the hand count instead of the machine count, deeming Stoltenberg the winner.
In her administrative recount report to the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office on Wednesday, Tompkins cited issues with machines jamming during counting.
Democrat Craig Cooper accepted his defeat and, in a Facebook post, congratulated Stoltenberg on her big win.
The Recount Board for Iowa House District 81 has completed its work, and all three members certified the Board’s report to the Scott County Auditor.
Final Tally from Recount Board Report:
Craig Cooper (D) – 5062
Luana Stoltenbeg (R) – 5073 pic.twitter.com/jZsTEweRNd
— Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate (@IowaSOS) December 7, 2022
In a separate comment, Republican winner Stoltenberg expressed she’s still in disbelief and advocated for hand recounts to override machine recounts in the future.
The post Republican Wins House Election By 11 VOTES After Recount- Machine Count Declared Democrat Winner, Hand Count Revealed Republican Won appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
