A winner has finally been declared in the Republican primary for Arizona’s 5th Congressional District. A recount confirmed state Senate President Andy Biggs has defeated former GoDaddy Executive Christine Jones.
The recount was automatically triggered because of the slim margin between Biggs and Jones. At first, only nine votes separated the candidates, but then a lawsuit filed by the Jones campaign arguing for the inclusion of tossed provisional ballots actually increased Biggs' lead to 16.
The recount was finished by Wednesday evening. Elizabeth Bartholomew with the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office said they had to look at every mail-in ballot cast in the primary election.
“We’ve also had to retabulate all of the Election Day ballots that were voted at the polls in those 113 precincts that were in Congressional District 5,” Bartholomew said.
After seeking more legal action this week and asking the judge to include all provisional ballots that were thrown out in the race, Jones conceded to Biggs in a statement, wishing him luck in the general election. Biggs will face Democratic primary winner Talia Fuentes on Nov. 8.
The Recorder's Office will now print ballots with Biggs' name as the Republican candidate for the general election. Military and overseas ballots must be mailed out by Sept. 24.
