Official Governor Race Recanvass Scheduled For Thursday

Experts Predict No Change In Results

Darren Doyle, story:
Kentucky republican governor Matt Bevin has officially called for a recanvass of the votes, which is scheduled for Thursday, November 14, 2019 all across the commonwealth. 

Bevin's vote count at 704,388 came in under democratic challenger Andy Beshear's 709,577 on election night, with 100% of the precincts reporting. With only 5,189 votes difference, Bevin suggested in a press conference there could be possible irregularities in the vote count and that he wanted to ensure integrity in the process of the election.

A recanvass means that each county's election officials will check the vote totals again and verify them once more. The process is handled electronically.

Edmonson County Clerk Kevin Alexander said the process is relatively simple.

"We'll check the tapes to the machine counts, certify them, then return to the state board of elections," he said. Alexander added that he did not foresee any changes in the results. Other state and national politicians and election officials have also said results are not expected to change.

Several national media outlets were quick to point out Bevin's loss in an overwhelmingly republican state where Donald Trump claimed a 30 point win over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election; however, republican candidates won in all five of the remaining 2019 state offices, which included attorney general, secretary of state, state auditor, state treasurer, and agriculture commissioner. 

Polling results from Morning Consult's Governor Approval Rankings from the third quarter in 2019 had Bevin listed as the second-most unpopular governor in America with a 53% disapproval rating statewide. Even though Beshear's victory of less than one percentage point over one of the least popular governors in the country could seem significant to some, Beshear's team has claimed the victory, has begun the transition, and is preparing to take office in 2020.

Bevin became the enemy of many Kentucky educators, both republican and democrat, during his term as he was consistently in the middle of name-calling and bickering in a process where he attempted to revamp the commonwealth's underfunded pension system.

Requests for further comment from Bevin's office were not returned.