DFL Rep. Brad Tabke widened his lead over Republican Aaron Paul by one vote following a recount of nearly 22,000 ballots in a closely watched Minnesota House race.
Julie Hanson, Scott County’s property and customer service manager, announced the unofficial results hours after people began hand-counting stacks of paper ballots cast in the contest for the 54A seat, which encompasses the Shakopee area.
At the recount’s conclusion, Tabke had 10,980 votes to Paul’s 10,965. Four of the votes included in the total count are challenged. The Scott County canvassing board will determine the disposition of those ballots at 2 p.m. Monday, the same day the board will certify the 54A race’s results.
The 54A race has been closely watched since election night. Before the recount, unofficial results showed Tabke with a 14-vote lead over Paul. Tabke is a former Shakopee mayor first elected in 2018 who has served two nonconsecutive terms, while Paul is a Bloomington police officer.
The narrow margin between candidates was within the threshold of 0.5% set by state law for an automatic recount in a state legislative race. The hand recount, for which Scott County received an official request, was open to the public and took place in the Scott County Government Center.
Spectators — including a Shakopee City Council contender, school board officials, DFLers and Republicans — stood watch over a procedure that began at 8:30 a.m. and stretched into the afternoon.
After the canvassing board certifies the results, candidates have seven days to file an election challenge in the courts.
As part of the recount, people parsed the stacks of paper for any irregularities, including ballots with partly completed bubbles or those with too many bubbles filled in.