Staff Reports
Rep. Bob Good is in a tight spot, desperately hoping that a recount in his primary will somehow work magic and save his seat in Congress. However, history has shown that wishing for a last-minute miracle is often just that—a wish. In the realm of recounts, the odds rarely favor the underdog. While Good’s heart might be full of optimism, those with a more pragmatic view recognize a countdown to disappointment.
Recent elections have demonstrated the futility of hoping for a change after a recount. The last few years have seen an unwelcome trend for good old-fashioned election hope: the vast majority of recounts rarely alter results. In Good’s case, a miracle seems needed to flip the outcome in the GOP primary for Virginia’s 5th Congressional District. Just to spice things up, here are three notorious recounts that somehow ended up flipping results, each laced with a tale of partisan mischief.
Good luck: Three times recounts have overturned elections https://t.co/uYsUon006r
— Linda Wright (@whosyrgyrl0306) August 1, 2024
Take a stroll back to 2004, when Washington State faced a nail-biter between Democrat Christine Gregoire and Republican Dino Rossi for the governor’s seat. Rossi led by a slim margin of 261 votes after the first count, leading to a full-fledged machine recount. To squeeze some suspense into the mix, Rossi’s lead shrank to just 42 votes after machines did their duty. But when the Democrats kicked it up a notch and paid for a hand recount, it magnified Gregoire’s lead to a whopping 130 votes. Allegedly “missed” votes were discovered, raising more than a few eyebrows across the aisle. Judicial struggles ensued, but not even the GOP litigation squad could overturn the final result, leaving Rossi high and dry while the Democrats celebrated.
Fast forward two years later to Vermont, where the race for auditor of accounts seemed like an easy win for the Republicans until it wasn’t. The incumbent, Randy Brock, claimed victory by a respectable margin of 137 votes—certified and sealed. Yet, December rolled around, and it turned out Snow White had been rooting for the other team. Secretary of State Deborah Markowitz announced that a recount had flipped the script, declaring Democrat Thomas Salmon the new auditor by 102 votes. The magic trick? Allegedly miscounted votes initially assigned to third-party candidates. Gripping drama, but the pendulum swung decidedly left.
Then there’s the legendary 2008 Minnesota Senate election—an ambitious showdown between Republican Norm Coleman and the ever-ambitious Democratic contender Al Franken. Coleman initially led, but after a grueling recount, Franken surged ahead, ultimately achieving a narrow victory. The dispute didn’t end with just the counting; it stretched into courtrooms, twisting and turning like a political soap opera. Eventually, Franken won, giving Democrats a critical supermajority in the Senate. But lingering doubts remained as watchdogs fingered speculation regarding thousands of ineligible voters casting ballots in strong Democratic regions. Somehow, that detail was never quite enough to galvanize any serious reexamination of the results.
In the face of such recount drama, Rep. Good may want to consider pulling out his lucky rabbit’s foot; his hope appears slim given the recount history. In the high-stakes world of politics, where the deck often seems stacked against conservative candidates, the odds indicate that his hopes for a recount miracle just might be little more than an entertaining fantasy. The political party game can be brutal, and for Good, the narrative of recounts usually sends potential incumbents packing rather than rallying them for victory.
