Nov 07 2008
46th Senate Race Still Officially Undecided
Debbie Clary said she doesn’t take anything for granted.
“We’re feeling good now,” she said Tuesday.
She surely appreciates the 730 votes that separated her and Democratic opponent Keith Melton in the race for the 46th District N.C. Senate seat. As it stands now, Clary is, by numbers alone, a North Carolina senator. But with such a tight race - Republican Clary landed 35,867 votes, Melton totaled 35,137 - there could be more to it than Election Day.
Provisional ballots have to be counted, but if the difference between the candidates’ final tallies falls within 1 percentage point, the loser can request a recount, according to county Elections Director Debra Blanton.
The Republicans were hoping to pick up several Senate seats in this election, but this was the only one they got. They need to pick up seven seats to have a majority in the State Senate, something they have never had in state history. The 46th will bring that number down to six. Unfortunately, it’s unlikely they’ll be able to take six Senate seats in 2010 and the problem is that is what’s needed to be in charge of redistricting. If the Democrats are still holding the cards after the Census then they’ll redistrict the GOP into another 10 years as the minority party.
