Recount in 3rd Congressional District begins Thursday

The recount in the 3rd U.S. Congressional District race will begin Thursday, according to the Thurston County Auditor’s office.

The county canvassing board will oversee the machine recount requested and funded by Republican Joe Kent.

His Democratic challenger, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, won in the original count 160,314 to Kent’s 157,685.

The Columbian: 3rd Congressional District winner Perez hits ground running in other Washington

Perez’s victory over Kent, who defeated U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA) in the primary, was one of the biggest upsets nationwide.

After the results were posted, Kent’s campaign tweeted, “In order to ensure the integrity of the election in Washington’s 3rd Congressional District, we are preparing to fund the optional recount that is afforded us by law.”

In order to ensure the integrity of the election in Washington’s 3rd Congressional District, we are preparing to fund the optional recount that is afforded us by law.

Our timeline to raise the money is very short.

Donate at https://t.co/aFqJ1XuvtV. pic.twitter.com/ocA3y2skBq

— Joe Kent for Congress (@JoeKentCampaign) November 25, 2022

The campaign gave its reasons for the requested recount: “How close the vote is (less than 1%), reports we received from election workers about glitches in the signature verification software, the potential for human error, and the precedent of a previous major election in this state determined by a recount.”

Washington election rules call for a mandatory recount if the margin between two candidates is less than one-half of a percent and also less than 2,000 votes. In this case, Kent is funding the recount.

The recount will begin at 1 p.m. this Thursday. The canvassing board is scheduled to meet on Friday at 8:30 a.m. to certify the recount and declare a winner.

Perez has already attended a orientation meeting in Washington, D.C. for new House members.

The results in #WA03 were clear a month ago: Joe Kent got fewer votes than me and lost. That’s democracy.

I’ve spent the last month hiring a bipartisan staff to work for Southwest Washington. That’s where my focus will be, no matter how many pointless recounts Joe Kent pays for.

— Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (@MGPforCongress) December 9, 2022

Elected representatives are scheduled to take their oath of office in January.