Navarro Lead Holds Up on Final Count

The last count of absentee ballots shows that Nancy Navarro has won the District 4 special election.

The Board of Elections counted 98 more Democratic absentee ballots this morning, of which 52 went to Ben Kramer, 41 went to Navarro and 5 went to other candidates. Nancy Navarro's previous lead was 73 votes, so if the County Board of Elections certifies this result, Navarro will win by 62 votes.

Multiple sources report that Kramer campaign staffer Tom Smith made remarks after the final count to the attendees, who included Board of Elections representatives, Navarro campaign staffers and other onlookers. Smith said, "I want to thank the board for what I acknowledge to be an accurate count." But he then proceeded to criticize the Navarro campaign's tactics, saying, "Because of the devolving negative tone of the campaign, we reserve the right to ask for a recount."

This follows Ben Kramer's use of puppets mounted on sticks to poke fun at the election at a roast for his father, former County Executive Sid Kramer. The Gazette reports:

Tuesday night's star roaster was Ben Kramer, who had the crowd laughing — some nervously — with an R-rated tale of his father unwittingly taking a young Ben and Rona to a movie on "life in the mountains of Appalachia" that turned out to be "Deliverance."

Ben also provided a "Saturday Night Live"-esque take on the District 4 election by inviting to the stage stick puppet caricatures of Navarro and County Councilman George Leventhal — a Navarro supporter — for a "group hug" after an ugly campaign.

"Nancy, you look lovely in your red hair bow," Ben remarked to the Navarro puppet. "And George, you are quite the little man."

So what is it going to be? A group hug or a group trip to court?