A Fort Bend County official confirmed a recount in the narrow sheriff’s race between incumbent Democrat Eric Fagan and Republican challenger Marshall Slot.
Elections Administrator John Oldham explained to the Fort Bend Star on Monday that the recount would begin on November 21. Still, he does not expect the recount to conclude until after November 28.
Oldham, who will supervise the recount, said it will be done by machine, and only ballots cast or postmarked by Election Day will be counted. Some ballots with defects that were corrected by November 12 will also be counted.
The current official vote totals for the race have Fagan leading by just over 1,000 votes—171,331 to Slot’s 170,346, or 51.14 percent to 49.86 percent.
Slot had formally requested a recount before Oldham decided to conduct it.
Fagan first won the office in 2020, beating Republican Trever Nehls—the brother of U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls—by five percentage points. Troy Nehls had previously been the county’s sheriff before his election to Congress in 2020.
Christine Welborn, president of the election security group Advancing Integrity, told Texas Scorecard that Slot’s desire for a recount in the close race “made perfect sense.”
“This is a very close countywide race, and its accuracy should be examined for the sake of this race and future races in Fort Bend County,” stated Welborn. “Transparency is crucial to restoring the public trust in elections.”
In neighboring Harris County, where the GOP outperformed expectations in federal and down-ballot races this year, the local Republican Party has indicated that it will consider petitioning for a recount in at least one race.
That specific race is for a district court seat where Democrat candidate Nicole Perdue took the lead over Republican candidate Michael Landrum after provisional and mail-in ballots were finally tallied.
“We are here to support all of our candidates who put their name on the ballot,” the Harris County Republican Party stated last week. “HCRP and Judge Landrum are discussing potential next steps but in the meantime, this is a stark reminder of what it takes to win and hardens our resolve to fight for every vote to make Harris County red again in two short years.”
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