Democrat in N.M. House race concedes

[Ron Burgundy]

AP - More than a week after Republican Rep. Heather Wilson claimed a razor-thin election victory, her Democratic challenger conceded Tuesday, saying a recount would cost too much and there was no guarantee it would reverse the result.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - More than a week after Republican Rep. Heather Wilson (news, bio, voting record) claimed a razor-thin election victory, her Democratic challenger conceded Tuesday, saying a recount would cost too much and there was no guarantee it would reverse the result.


In Ohio's 2nd District, Rep. Jean Schmidt, a Republican, clinched re-election Tuesday. Additional ballot counts gave her an insurmountable edge of about 3,200 votes over Democratic challenger Victoria Wulsin.

New Mexico's Wilson won by 875 votes — the final tally showed the five-term congresswoman with 105,921 votes to 105,046 votes for Democrat Patricia Madrid, the state attorney general.

The difference was less than one-half of 1 percent, which in some states would have triggered an automatic recount, but New Mexico does not have an automatic recount law.

Madrid could have requested a recount, but she would have had to pay for it, and she estimated a districtwide recount could reach $300,000.

State Democratic Party Chairman John Wertheim has accused Republicans of "systematic vote suppression" in the New Mexico, a reference to accusations that Republicans called Democratic voters and gave them erroneous polling information. Although Madrid lost, her party succeeded in taking control of the U.S. House.

A handful of other House races remained unresolved:

• North Carolina, 8th District: Rep. Robin Hayes (news, bio, voting record), a Republican, led Democrat Larry Kissell by about 330 votes after results were certified Friday night. Kissell asked for a recount, which began Monday.

• Ohio, 15th District: Rep. Deborah Pryce (news, bio, voting record), a member of the House Republican leadership, led Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy by 3,717 votes Tuesday amid a count of provisional ballots.

• In Florida, state officials certified Republican Vern Buchanan the winner over Democrat Christine Jennings by 369 votes, or less than 0.02 percent. Jennings contested the election Monday, arguing touch-screen voting machines had malfunctioned and asking a judge to order a new election.

• Rep. William Jefferson (news, bio, voting record), D-La., the subject of an FBI bribery investigation, will face fellow Democrat Karen Carter in a Dec. 9 runoff, and Rep. Henry Bonilla (news, bio, voting record), R-Texas, will face Democratic former Rep. Ciro Rodriguez (news, bio, voting record) in a yet-unscheduled runoff.