The recount, which began Tuesday, gave Vo a winning margin of 33 votes out of of more than 40,000 cast. The additional vote came from a mail-in ballot not credited to Vo in previous counts, election officials said.
The vote now stands at 20,695 for Vo to 20,662 for Heflin.
“We didn’t expect the outcome to change, because all of the illegal votes are still included in the recount total,” said Heflin’s lawyer, Andy Taylor. “Once you subtract all the illegal votes from the total, it will show that Representative Heflin has more legal votes than his opponent.”
Greg is right – the only strategy left to Team Heflin is to blame the voters, and they’re doing it with gusto. It really makes one wonder how they think they could win a rematch, if the House voids the result as they so undemcratically demand. Both he and Andrew D are calling for donations to help Vo offset the legal costs he’s incurred since Heflin started bellyaching. I know it’s Christmas season, but this certainly qualifies as a worthy cause. I may or may not be attending the Sunday Vo fundraiser that Greg mentions, but don’t let my wishywashiness stop you from going. Check out Greg for the details.
Now that the votes have been counted, recounted, and re-recounted, it seems that Andy Taylor and Talmadge Heflin are the last two people who just won;t take Vo for an answer. The people of HD 149 certainly will.
I really don’t get it at this point. Why is Heflin even bothering for an $8 grand/year job when if he is indeed the budget guru and Republican crony that they make him out to be then he will easily pick up a 6 figure lobbying job from some business sector and be in Austin anyway.
The best that the legislature can do for Heflin is call for a new election. Do they really think they can beat Vo a 2nd time around? The Dems will be energized if they try, and Vo will become a celebrity case in national Democratic circles with sites like Kos and Atrios raising funds for him. My bet is that the dollars would flood in from around the country and the local media would really be all over the race. Dems with deep pockets are hungry for a victory and I don’t see Heflin being able to match the internet fundraising that Dem organizations could do for Vo. Could Hefflin really survive that sort of race standing there all alone without Bush on the ballot? Does he really want his adoption scandal to get splashed on the national papers? Because a new election would definitely make the national press.
Finally, I gotta think that given the makeup of the district, Vo has more potential voters to harvest this time around then Heflin. And I gotta think that given all the press coverage there would be more people switching from Heflin to Vo than the other way around. Heflin has given voters a lot of reasons to change their minds about him whereas Vo will only look more appealing the more people focus on this race.
Good judgment does not seem to be one of Heflin’s strong suits. Remember, this is a guy who tried to steal his African housekeeper’s kid! A judge rejected his case, but the amazing thing is that Heflin’s going to go back to court and try again!!
That and this election challenge suggest someone who just can’t face reality.
The people of District 149 have spoken, but Talmadge Heflin isn’t listening. Go home Talmadge. You lost.
I just checked out an interesting preview for a film called “Holler to the Hood” that exposes abuse in American prisons. The site also offers some interesting audio clips about incarcerated people and the communities surrounding the prisons. Red state meets blue state and Hip-hop meets Bluegrass! Audio and video clips are at http://www.appalshop.org/h2h They are doing radio broadcast for prisoner family members, maybe it is a sign of the times.