Mills to pay for recount in MN-8 race

You thought I was done with this graphic? Nope.

You thought I was done with this graphic? Nope.

Republican Stewart Mills will pay for a recount in Minnesota’s Eighth Congressional race.

U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan (D-MN8) won the election by 2,009 votes, or 0.56 percent, according to the Secretary of State. That lies outside the 0.25 percent range that would trigger an automatic recount, so Mills is invoking his right to pay for his own recount.

“We just want to make sure that every vote gets counted, and counted correctly,” Mills said in an interview with Patrick Condon in the Star Tribune. “We’re prepared to accept whatever is the genuine will of the voters, but we would be negligent not to seek this recount.”

Nolan campaign manager Joe Radinovich responded in a statement:

“It is evident voters recognized Congressman Nolan as an effective champion of their issues. While he has the right to do so, Mr. Mills’ choice to pay for a recount is unprecedented, and it calls into question the integrity of Minnesota’s election system, which is administered through the volunteer efforts of election judges from both parties. We appreciate those efforts, and we expect there will be no change in the outcome.”

The 8th District in Northern Minnesota became the most expensive Congressional race in the United States. Torrents of outside money poured in, mostly in the form of negative television ads and mailers.

Donald Trump won the 8th District, once considered a safe seat for the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. In his narrow victory, Nolan outperformed Hillary Clinton by about 40,000 votes — earning the ballots of third-party presidential voters and even some Trump voters.

That caught Mills’ eye, and he says he’s just doing this to be certain.

From the story:

Mills said he doesn’t mean to be disruptive and he means no disrespect to Nolan.

“If congressman Nolan did outperform Hillary Clinton to the degree the initial numbers show, then literally, hats off to the man and I owe him a beer,” Mills said.

My position on the recount is the same as my position on the recounts proposed in Wisconsin and other state’s narrowly won by Trump. Nothing to fear in a recount. A properly monitored recount only serves to better understand the truth of what the voters said on election day.

Comments

  1. It is interesting how Crow Wing County centric the 8th District has become. Nolan, Mills and Radinovich are all Crow Wing County figures. Too bad it doesn’t translate into economic benefits for one of Minnesota’s poorest counties.

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