LITTLE ROCK — With only one county recount left, Republican John Hutchison of Harrisburg continued Wednesday to hold a narrow lead — 41 votes — over Democrat L.J. Bryant of Grubbs in the state House District 52 race.
Independence County officials plan to recount their House ballots this morning, and, if their election-night math was correct, Hutchison will narrowly claim the House seat.
If the recount doesn’t flip the election results, Republicans will hold 51 districts, or a majority of the 100 seats in the chamber for the first time in more than 125 years.
If Bryant wins, neither party will have a majority. Republicans would have 50 votes, Democrats would have 49, and the Green Party representative, a former Democrat, would be the wild card.
In states where the House is evenly divided, Democrats and Republicans sometimes craft a power-sharing agreement, but it’s unclear how Arkansas’ lawmakers would handle the matter.
House leaders have scheduled a vote today at noon to reconsider who will become the next House speaker. The chamber selected Democrat Darrin Williams of Little Rock as its House speaker-designee last spring, but Republicans say they want to replace him with one of their own, possibly Terry Rice of Waldron or Davy Carter of Cabot.
Independence County election officials will begin their recount in the county courthouse about 9 a.m. for District 52, which covers parts of Independence, Jackson, Craighead and Poinsett counties.
Independence County reported to the secretary of state that Bryant received 407 votes and Hutchison received 383.
Cathy Drew, the chairman of the Independence County Election Commission, said she expects the recount to affirm those numbers.
“We won’t really know until we do the recount tomorrow, but I don’t anticipate any changes [in the vote total],” Drew said.
The recounts in the district’s other three counties have produced minimal changes in the vote counts tallied on election night.
Democratic Party of Arkansas spokesman Candace Martin said no changes in the vote totals were discovered after the recounts in Craighead and Jackson counties. Martin said the party won’t release a statement until the Independence County recount is complete.
Craighead County reported 1,501 votes for Bryant and 1,857 for Hutchison, according to the secretary of state. Jackson County reported 1,083 votes for Bryant and 522 for Hutchison, according to the secretary of state.
Poinsett County reported 2,013 votes for Bryant and 2,286 for Hutchison on election night, according to the secretary of state. However, Fonda Condra, the Poinsett County clerk, would not provide the county’s current vote totals Wednesday afternoon. She said the county must wait to receive any possible overseas ballots before the vote total can be certified Friday.
Secretary of state spokesman Alex Reed said some military and overseas ballots could still be counted, but he said there were fewer than half a dozen outstanding ballots.
“They have until Friday to get them in,” he said.
Reed said all provisional and absentee ballots should be in. All counties must certify the results of the November election by Friday.
Republican Party spokesman Katherine Vasilos said with provisional and absentee ballots from Jackson, Craighead and Poinsett counties, Hutchison gained seven votes and Bryant gained six, creating a 45-vote difference going into the recounts.
The difference in the vote was reduced to 41 after Hutchison lost four votes in the Poinsett County recount, she said.
Both parties have sent attorneys and others to observe the recounts.
Vasilos said the representatives have been satisfied with the recounts so far and the way they have been handled.
“The process has been fair and efficient,” Vasilos said.
Bryant said by e-mail that he is impressed by how election officials have responded to his request for a recount.
“The election process is sacred. We’ve picked up some votes and lost some. It shows when a race is this close you need a recount,” he said.
Hutchison did not return calls seeking comment.
Arkansas, Pages 14 on 11/15/2012