MN 1st Congressional District race: Narrow margin won’t automatically trigger a recount
Jake Johnson leads Brad Finstad in MN CD-1 race
Democrat Jake Johnson has declared victory over incumbent Republican Rep. Brad Finstad in southern Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District, holding a narrow 323-vote lead. Although the 0.1% margin falls within the state's threshold to allow a publicly funded recount, Minnesota law does not trigger one automatically. Finstad has until after the State Canvassing Board meets on Nov. 19 to request a manual review of the ballots, leaving the final outcome of the race officially undetermined.
ROCHESTER, Minn. (FOX 9) - A very close race in southern Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District has left open the possibility of a recount even after Jake Johnson declared victory.
How the 1st district race got this close
Local perspective:
Johnson, a math teacher in Rochester, claimed victory early Wednesday, Nov. 4, saying in a social media post he is "honored to serve as the next congressman from southern Minnesota." His narrow lead over Finstad marked an upset in the district and surprised even some liberal voters.
"I think that Republicans have these seats in a lot of areas of the government where they think that them winning is just a gimme. So they don’t actually put a lot of work into campaigning," said Eli Martin, a Rochester voter.
The margin was close enough that in some other states it would have triggered an automatic recount. Minnesota does not have a state law that requires one.
By the numbers:
The race was separated by 323 votes, or 0.1%. Because that gap is less than 0.25%, the losing candidate can request a publicly funded recount, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.
Johnson’s campaign said it believes the 323-vote lead is strong enough to withstand any recount.
What a Minnesota recount would look like
Timeline:
During a recount in Minnesota, election officials are required to check every ballot by hand to verify the results, according to the Secretary of State’s Office. While some election experts have criticized hand counting, the office said it is especially needed in rare cases when a machine cannot read a ballot because of human error, such as when a voter circles a candidate’s name instead of filling in the bubble.
County canvassing boards across Minnesota are scheduled to review results between Nov. 6 and Nov. 13. The Secretary of State’s Office said recounts do not happen until after the State Canvassing Board meets Nov. 19.
After a county board meets, candidates have 48 hours to request a publicly funded recount or five days to request a discretionary recount, according to the office.
Dig deeper:
Candidates, their representatives and members of the public can watch a recount and raise questions about the process, but they cannot touch the ballots, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.
Candidates can also do a test run first by picking up to three precincts for a recount. After those results come in, they can choose to stop the rest of the recount, according to the office.
What the costs and history show
By the numbers:
Minnesota pays for recounts only when the margin falls within the state’s threshold. If the margin is larger, a candidate can still ask for a discretionary recount and pay out of pocket, though the jurisdiction responsible for the recount must cover the cost if the recount changes the result, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.
"This is potentially not inexpensive. It could be several hundreds of thousands of dollars," said David Schultz, a Hamline University political science professor.
The backstory:
Since 2000, there have been 34 recounts in Minnesota, according to a FairVote analysis. The last time a recount flipped the result was the 2008 U.S. Senate race.
"Back in 2008, where after Election Day was over, Norm Coleman, the Republican, looked like he had won the U.S. Senate race, and by the time all the ballots were counted and after all the litigation, you had Al Franken winning," said Schultz.
FairVote said Coleman entered that recount ahead by 215 votes, but Franken won by 225 votes after months of legal fights over rejected ballots.
What we don't know:
Finstad had not publicly conceded or made any statements about a recount as of Wednesday, Nov. 4. FOX 9 reached out to his campaign to ask whether he would request one but had not heard back.
The Secretary of State’s Office said election results are not official until a canvassing board reviews them first. Until that process is finished, and any recount request is made, it is not clear whether the initial result will stand.
The Source: FOX 9’s Emily Pofahl, the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office, FairVote, the National Conference of State Legislatures and previous FOX 9 coverage.