LEWISTON — First-term Republican state Sen. Garrett Mason appears to have fended off his Democratic challenger by 33 votes, winning a second term in the Maine Senate.
Unofficial results had Quint leading by 77 votes early Wednesday morning, but Wales’ Deputy Clerk Sharon Siegel confirmed Thursday that Mason won the town with 457 votes to Quint’s 329.
A typographical error in the transcription of the results gave the win to Quint.
What was most stunning, Siegel said, was that 63 Wales voters left their ballots blank on that race.
“It’s not the first time we’ve heard that (it came down to Wales),” Siegel said.
While Mason was claiming victory, Quint said she had asked for a recount.
She said out of more than 19,000 votes cast, the margin for Mason was less than two-tenths of 1 percent. “So, an incredibly small margin, but that’s the count,” Quint said. “So we have asked for a recount.”
Some news reports, including a brief report in the Sun Journal on Thursday, showed Quint as the winner.
Mason said he went to bed early Wednesday morning thinking he had lost the race.
“So it feels pretty good and it just really shows how every single vote really counts,” he said Thursday.
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- State Sen. Garrett Mason, R-Lisbon Falls
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- Colleen Quint
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