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The Politics Blog

Brad Shannon maintains this blog. He is political editor at The Olympian and can be reached at 360-753-1688 or bshannon@theolympian.com.

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Sen. Benton's 74-vote recount win cuts Democrats' majority to 26-23

Jordan Schrader | The News Tribune • Published December 05, 2012 Modified December 05, 2012

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UPDATE 9 a.m. Wednesday: Senate Republicans says a recount didn’t change the results in a Clark County Senate race and GOP Sen. Don Benton has unofficially won re-election — trimming Democrats’ majority to 26-23 and giving Republicans major leverage.

Preliminary results had Benton beating Rep. Tim Probst by 78 votes.Republicans said Benton is now ahead by 74 votes, with nine ballots due to go before the county canvassing board on Monday for examination.

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A recount didn’t change the results in the 47th District race for state House, King County Elections announced today. The recount by machine added one vote for Rep. Mark Hargrove, keeping him as the unofficial winner over Bud Sizemore.

Hargrove, a Republican, won by 158 votes out of 58,704 cast.

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