A recount is expected to be requested by Republican City Council District 1 Councilman Dascal Bunch, after he lost his seat to a Democratic challenger by one vote.
Bunch lost his District 1 seat to Democratic challenger Jerone Wood Tuesday night in a race that was at one point at a tie with seven voting centers reporting in.
After all eight vote centers reported in, 30-year-old Wood had 260 votes, while Bunch, 64, had garnered support from 259 voters. A third candidate in the race — independent Michael Kinder — picked up 81 votes.
The deadline for Bunch to file a request for a recount is at noon Nov. 19, Bartholomew County Clerk Jay Phelps said. The deadline for Bartholomew County GOP chairman Barb Hackman to file on behalf of a candidate is Nov. 22 at noon.
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The candidate or party chair must file the request for a recount with the clerk’s office, Phelps said. The request would then be randomly assigned to a Bartholomew County judge as a civil case, Phelps said.
If a request is filed, “the judge will set the parameters” of the recount, Phelps said.
Currently, recounts in Indiana involving electronic voting machines are done by reprinting the vote tallies on the machines and comparing them to the number of signatures in the poll books, Phelps said. Additionally, mail-in paper ballots would be recounted by hand.
The last recount done in a Columbus municipal election was in the 2011 general election, after Republican Frank Jerome defeated Democrat Greg Knoll by two votes, 879 to 877, to win the Columbus City Council District 3 seat, Phelps said.
The results did not change after the recount, Phelps said.
When initial final reports came in to the Hotel Indigo where Democrats gathered to watch the results, Wood didn’t believe he had won until he saw the total projected on a large screen.
At that moment, Wood appeared stunned as loud cheers filled the room and several Democrats gave him a congratulatory hug.
“I put in the work, but I still didn’t see this happening,” said Wood, a leasing agent for a local apartment complex. “I didn’t know how people would receive me. But I am so happy!”
Wood said that while the campaign was fun, now is the time to start working for the city.
Bunch — the first person to officially file his candidacy this year — won 55% of the primary vote, compared to 45% for challenger Christopher Rutan. However, only 245 votes were cast in that primary race.
Neither Kinder nor Wood had their names on the May ballot. Independents such as Kinder cannot run in Indiana primaries, while Wood’s name wasn’t placed on the ballot by Bartholomew County Democratic chairman Bob Hyatt until one week after the May primary.
Kinder said Tuesday’s results will not result in a decline in his civic involvement.
“I’ve learned of many great ways to be involved in the community,” the independent candidate said. “I plan to look those up, and figure those opportunities out.”
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Columbus City Council District 1
Jerone Wood (D);260
Dascal Bunch (R);259
Michael Kinder (I);81
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