Ashley Hudson, a Democratic state House candidate from West Little Rock, pulled narrowly ahead of her opponent, state Rep. Jim Sorvillo, R-Little Rock, after election officials in Pulaski County tabulated more than 1,000 remaining ballots Friday night.
The ballots included the last remaining batch of uncounted provisional ballots approved by the Pulaski County Election Commission - totaling 1,108 votes - as well as votes from “a box of ballots” that the commission found as they were preparing to leave late Friday, said Commissioner Kristi Stahr.
The commission remained in session until after 3 a.m. reviewing the ballots. The final vote totals were not posted by the commission until 3:25 a.m.
Hudson, who had trailed Sorvillo by 44 votes after the last round of tabulation earlier this week, led by 25 votes after the latest ballots were counted. The uncertified vote totals in House District 32 were 8,403 for Hudson and 8,378 for Sorvillo.
“I think I’m in shock,” Hudson said, after waking up at 5 a.m. to read the updated results. “It’s been kind of crazy. I know it's not over until it's over, but it felt really good seeing that."
Hudson said she expected Sorvillo to request a recount given the narrow margins. Sorvillo could not immediately be reached Saturday morning.
The additional ballots also narrowed the margins in another closely fought House race across the Arkansas River in House District 38.
In that race, state Rep. Carlton Wing, R-North Little Rock, had his lead over Democrat Matthew Stallings shrink from 55 to 16. Wing now leads Stallings 7,099 votes to 7,083.
It’s unclear whether there are any additional remaining ballots left to be counted in Pulaski County. The commission - which is made up of two Republicans and one Democrat - had previously agreed to attempt to count all of the remaining ballots by Friday night, in order to allow candidates to request a recount before the election must be certified on Wednesday.