Eight Votes, a Tie and a Quarter: Kentucky's Closest County Races Head Toward Recanvass Deadline

Several county offices in Eastern Kentucky came down to margins small enough to count on a classroom roster in Tuesday’s election. One magistrate seat in the state’s smallest county was settled by a flip of a quarter.

The closest county contests

WEKU reported Friday that a handful of local races in Eastern and Southeastern Kentucky were separated by fewer than 50 votes in unofficial returns. The tightest it identified was the 4th District magistrate seat in Knott County, where Republican Kevin Huff led Democratic incumbent Calvin Waddles by eight votes. Knott County Clerk Maurica Cornett told the station that Waddles has already asked for a recanvass, which she said is scheduled for Nov. 12.

Other close contests the station listed:

• Perry County sheriff: Democrat Shawn White ahead of Republican Shannon Woods by 14 votes.
• Magoffin County coroner: incumbent Mark Jenkins ahead of Republican Johnnie Lovely by 10 votes.
• Letcher County judge-executive: incumbent Terry Adams ahead of Democrat Deb Collier by 24 votes.
• Carter County clerk: Republican Amy Greer ahead of incumbent Debbie Johnson by 40 votes.

In Robertson County, the 2nd District magistrate race ended in a 91-91 tie between Republican Benny Ray Renner and Democrat Kristen Fryman. According to WEKU, county officials broke the tie with a coin toss using a quarter supplied by the sheriff. Renner, listed first on the ballot, called heads; the coin landed tails, giving Fryman the seat. “We laughed about it, and I left her as the winner and with the quarter in my pocket,” Fryman told the station.

What a recanvass does and does not do

Kentucky’s recanvass law, KRS 117.305, lets a candidate file a written request until 4 p.m. on the Tuesday after a regular election, which this year is Nov. 10. The statute says a request is not enough to compel a recanvass unless the gap between the requesting candidate and a rival is less than 1% of all votes cast for that office. County boards then meet at 9 a.m. on the Thursday after that deadline, Nov. 12. WEKU, citing a State Board of Elections memo, reported that candidates must cover the cost; the statute itself does not address cost.

A recanvass is narrower than a recount. Under the statute, the county board rechecks the voting equipment, along with absentee and valid federal provisional ballots, without unlocking the machines,. “If they match, nothing is said,” she said, adding that the outcome usually does not change. The law states that a recanvass does not stop anyone from also seeking a recount, which is a separate process under KRS Chapter 120.

The certification calendar

County boards generally must issue certificates for races contained within one county by Monday, Nov. 16. For statewide, congressional and legislative races, counties must send certified totals to the secretary of state by Nov. 10, and the State Board of Elections must tabulate them no later than Monday, Nov. 23. Until then, all of the margins cited here remain unofficial.

Analysis: why the small races deserve a look

Wide statewide margins can hide how fragile local outcomes are in thinly populated counties. Five voters choosing differently in Knott County, or one in Robertson County, would have produced a different officeholder.

Editor’s note: The Kacee Allen Network News Desk read WEKU’s Nov. 6 report, LINK nky’s explainer of Kentucky’s post-election rules and the text of KRS 117.305 on the Kentucky General Assembly’s website on Nov. 7. No interviews were conducted by the News Desk; quotes are attributed to WEKU, which obtained them. The analysis section is the desk’s own; all facts are sourced.

Correction, Nov. 7: An earlier version of this article cited the Kentucky Secretary of State’s unofficial results site and a statewide Senate tally, and its editor’s note said that site had been opened and checked. That site could not be loaded directly, so both were removed. The recanvass section now draws on the text of KRS 117.305, and the cost of a recanvass is attributed to WEKU’s reporting rather than stated as law. An unchecked sentence on automatic recounts was removed.