[R]UTLAND – A recount in the race for the final GOP spot on the general election ballot for state Senate seat from Rutland County resulted in the same candidate winning by the same five-vote margin as in the primary election earlier this month.
Ed Larson, a former Rutland City alderman, garnered 2,048 votes, compared to 2,043 votes for Terry Williams, a member of the Poultney Selectboard, according to Marya Bossong, acting Rutland County clerk, who also serves as the Bennington County clerk.
The recount that began Monday morning and ended mid-afternoon Tuesday showed each candidate losing one vote from the results reported following the primary election Aug. 14.
The margin between the two, however, remained the same: five votes.
Williams had sought the recount after the tight primary election.
Reached late Tuesday afternoon, Williams said he was conceding the race to Larson and wouldn’t pursue contest any further.
He added that he was “quite impressed” with the recount process, having spent two days making sure that the votes were properly counted.
And while he didn’t prevail in this race, Williams said he hasn’t soured on running for a spot in the Statehouse.
“You’re going to see me around,” he said.
Five candidates had battled for three Republican spots on the general election ballot in November representing Rutland County in the Vermont Senate.
A breakdown of the recount results shows:
• Incumbent GOP state Sen. Brian Collamore garnered 3,508 votes
• Former Rutland Town state representative James McNeil had 2,814 votes
• Larson had 2,048 votes
• Williams had 2,043 votes.
• Incumbent state Sen. David Soucy, running his first countywide race as a sitting state senator, came in fifth, with 1,661 votes.
Soucy was appointed to the post by Gov. Phil Scott, filling a seat vacated when former state Sen. Kevin Mullin was tapped to be chair of the Green Mountain Care Board.
The three GOP state Senate candidates will face a slate of three Democratic challengers: Cheryl Hooker, a former state senator from Rutland County, Greg Cox of Boardman Hill Farm in West Rutland and president of the Vermont Farmers Food Center, and Scott Garren, former chair of the Rutland County Democratic Party.
