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August may request recount in 32nd District race

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Photo by Dan Plutchak

Tyler August follows along Thursday as Diane Campbell, left, and Walworth County Clerk Kim Bushey, members of the Walworth County Canvassing Board, certify the primary vote. Initial results Tuesday had August four votes behind Adam Gibbs in the Republican primary for the 32nd state assembly seat.

Photo

Photo by Dan Plutchak

Adam Gibbs, foreground, and Tyler August, background, watch as the Walworth County Canvassing Board goes over vote totals from Tuesday's primary. Initial totals give Gibbs a four-vote lead over August.

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Tyler August

LAKE GENEVA — State assembly candidate Tyler August today will decide whether to request a recount to try and close the four-vote gap between himself and Adam Gibbs in Tuesday’s primary.

August said he will wait until the Walworth County Canvassing Board meets before making a decision. Unofficial results in the 32nd District race show Gibbs edging August 1,761 to 1,757 and Delavan Mayor Mel Nieuwenhuis third with 1,641 votes.

The canvassing board, which meets at 9 a.m. today, verifies the ballots before making the results official.

“I think there is a process for that for a reason,” August said. “I’ve taken a lot of phone calls from a lot of supporters to make sure that I pursue that mechanism. We kind of think we owe it to our supporters just to make sure this is the result that the voters chose.”

Wisconsin elections law doesn’t require an automatic recount, but candidates can request one at any time. Once the vote is confirmed by the county canvassing board, candidates have three business days to file for a recount.

August said he had not yet spoken with Gibbs about the results. Gibbs was celebrating his unofficial victory Tuesday night at a restaurant in Lake Geneva.

He said he was “elated” by the win and thought voters were eager to seat new leaders in the state assembly.

Gibbs unofficially leads August, Nieuwenhuis, Dan Necci, Thomas Stelling and John Finley. Gibbs, 24, and August, 27, are the youngest of the six candidates.

The Republican nominee will face Doug Harrod of Genoa City in November’s general election. Harrod was the only Democrat to file for candidacy.

The winner replaces incumbent Rep. Thomas Lothian, who opted not to seek re-election. August has served as Lothian’s chief of staff for several years.