Donnelly to formally seek recount
State Rep. Margaret Donnelly, the Democratic runner-up in that party’s photo-finish primary contest Aug. 5 for Missouri attorney general, today announced that she’ll definitely seek a recount.
Donnelly, of Richmond Heights, lost to state Sen. Chris Koster, D-Raymore, by 794 votes out of roughly 346,000 votes cast. Koster’s victory percentage is 0.2 percent.
The results are still unofficial until they are certified by the Secretary of State’s office, which must be completed in the next few weeks.
Said Donnelly’s release: “With the smallest margin in a statewide race in Missouri history, a one-vote swing in as few as 25% of the precincts in the state would result in a Donnelly victory.
“ ‘Voting is the heart of the democratic process, and we are pursuing a recount as that is the fairest way possible to make sure the people’s voice through the election is most accurately heard,’ Donnelly said. ‘I have received encouragement to pursue the recount from an overwhelming number of Democratic primary voters. At this stage the recount becomes a legal procedure.’ ”
She has hired the Kansas City law firm of Lathrop & Gage L.C., an interesting choice since the firm has close ties to Gov. Matt Blunt, a Republican.
Donnelly said that lawyer Richard Rhyne of the firm’s Kansas City office “has served as chair of the Donnelly for Attorney General Greater Kansas City-Area Steering Committee, and has handled election recount matters in his legal practice.
“Lathrop & Gage has handled election recounts like this many times before,” Donnelly said.
Koster issued a statement saying he had no objections (and likely expected the recount):
“Representative Donnelly and her supporters ran a tremendous race. It is within her right to verify the election’s results. We remain confident that our campaign is on the path to victory in November, and I will continue to travel to every corner of Missouri to talk about my law enforcement experience and the issues that matter most to working families.”
I saw Margaret Donnelly debate before the primary. Chris Koster never showed up. Donnelly should be our Democratic candidate. If it wasn’t for the “stalking horse” candidate Molly Williams this race would not have been so close. Even the Kansas City Pitch had an article about filthy Koster and Williams. Donnelly is doing the right thing asking for a recount! She deserves it and so do the people of Missouri!
Shed all the crocodile tears you want, Amy. If instant runoff voting (IRV) had been in place, the stalking horse strategy wouldn’t have worked, and Margaret would have won. Too bad Margaret didn’t work to get IRV enacted when she had the chance in the legislature.
Oracle, we get it already. You have your little pet deal with instant runoff. Instead of constantly injecting it here, why don’t you start collecting some signatures to put it on the ballot? And of course you already know that IRV wouldn’t have passed the House whether Donnelly had worked for it or not, so your little game of blaming her for not carrying your water is just silly.
Back to the subject, I know a lot of Democrats were hoping Donnelly would ask for the recount, and I know that a lot of Democrats are hoping to see her prevail. Donnelly is far, far superior to the two Republican alternatives.
Amy is dead on! I can’t remember the last time I’ve been so frustrated that I actually posted something online . . . but are you kidding me! Koster is a phoney!! He is a sandbagger and a fake! Donnelly has been carrying the Democratic flag her whole carreer . . . wasn’t Koster a Republican until like last week! I was actually a Jeff Harris guy but he didn’t get the nod, and that’s fine . . . but there is no way we can seriously be considering Koster for the nomination. Please! Does anyone even know what he’s all about, what he stands for, or what he’s planning on doing when he gets elected? I’m proud of Donnelly for calling for a recount, and I hope she ends up with the nomination! As for Koster, he needs to go back and hang out with all his Republican buddies and clear the road for a real candidate . . . Donnelly!!!
P.S. Amen Shecky!!
stalking horse? Those voters did not know who Margaret Donnelly was. To act like she deserved those votes is offensive. Those people wanted to vote for a woman and they did - end of story.
Williams being in the race is no more unethical then Harris and Donnelly smearing Koster with baseless ethics charges. How many votes did those attacks cost Koster? Donnelly lost because 23,000 of the people that would likely vote for her did not know the difference between her and an 8th grade school teacher because she did not get her message out. She ran a poor campaign.
At the end of the day whole lot of Democrats voted for Koster. More than voted for Donnelly and more then voted for Harris. Fine, have a recount, but if you do not win, please stop with the entire “I am a Democrat who is voting for Gibbons” thing. If you vote for Gibbons you are not a Democrat. If you vote for Gibbons you are hurting the State, Jay Nixon and the rest of the party. Remember Florida and a seemingly unimportant Secretary of State. I bet Gore wished she was a Democrat.
After the recount it is time to come together.
Or maybe they voted for Molly Williams because they didn’t appreciate the negative campaigns that Harris and Donnelly ran, and thought they’d give somebody else a chance. I did that in another statewide race - voted for a nobody because I didn’t like the other choices who actually had a shot at winning.
To say that the race was “unfair” because Molly Williams was on the ballot is just plain silly. No, you lost. Accept the facts. Sure, have a recount, but once it’s done, move on and don’t blame other people for not winning.
If Molly Williams ruined Margaret’s race, I guess Sarah Steelman should start whining about Scott Long and the other guy(can’t remember his name) who decided to put their names in the hat for the GOP gubernatorial primary. I haven’t heard her making up stories about them getting on the ballot just to steal “her” votes.
Donnelly’s Law firm of choice makes her very suspect if you ask me, are they really truly that much different in heart?
-J, negative campaign? And you voted for a nobody because you didn’t like the other choices who actually had a shot at winning? My prayer is that you’re in a mandatory civics class this fall. People who just don’t get it should stay home. Hats off to you though, you certainly know alot about whining.
The Democtats have once again proven that if a race can be lost, they will find a way to lose it. Harris instigates the nastiest campaign in history. Harris and Donnelly instigate baseless ethis charges. Koster is forced to spend all his money in the primary, and then can’t raise money for the general because of a recount that has zero chance of resulting in a new winner. I say we let Harris have the honor of getting crucified by Gibbons. (After all, Harris got 33% of the vote in the Post’s “scientific” poll right before the election.) Will the Democrats ever learn that the goal is to win the general election?