Montgomery County is still counting the ballots but Dan Farrington just sent out the following email to his supporters:
I am humbled and honored by your support throughout my campaign for the House of Delegates and by all of your calls of encouragement during this last week of uncertainty.I would not have blamed Dan for waiting until all the ballots were counted just as a matter of principle before conceding the race even though I thought he had little chance of taking the lead. However, one also can understand completely why he might want to bring this primary election to a belated close.
The morning after Election Day, we were within less than 400 votes of victory with thousands of absentee and provisional ballots left to count. Although it will be several more days before all of the ballots are counted, the Board of Elections has now posted precinct results that allow us to project the outcome of the provisional ballots. Unfortunately, it does not look like we will make up sufficient ground to win.
The irregularities of Election Day and the closeness of the race have led many to encourage me to see all of the votes counted before conceding. Given the incredible hurdles that many voters had to surmount to cast ballots last Tuesday, I do believe it is critical to the integrity of this election -- and to turnout in future elections -- that all of the votes be counted. I also believe, however, that it is unlikely the outcome will change and the time has come to move on. I spoke with Jeff Waldstreicher earlier today, congratulated him on his victory and pledged to do what I can to support the Democratic ticket in November. I hope you will join me in supporting Maryland’s Democrats during the fall campaigns.
Working with my 4 ½ year-old son through his disappointment with the outcome of the election has helped me put our loss into perspective. As I told him, I ran because I wanted to help our community become an even better place to live. Even though we did not achieve the outcome we wanted, we can hold our heads high because we tried our best. I am proud of the positive, grassroots campaign we ran and am proud that our ideas resonated with so many thousands of people.
I promise that I will remain engaged to see that the things in which we all believe continue to move forward in Maryland. Thank you for your friendship and your support.
