William Penterman told WisPolitics.com today he has declared victory in the GOP primary for the 37th Assembly District after the county cavasses confirmed his 16-vote lead over Jennifer Meinhardt.
The Columbus native said his campaign was already focusing on the July 13 general election where he will face Democratic candidate Pete Adams and independent Stephen Ratzlaff.
The Elections Commission expects to certify the primary results next week.
“We’re wasting no time moving forward,” Penterman said.
Meinhardt told WisPolitics.com she won’t be pursuing a recount because the county boards of canvass from the race did not bring the vote difference down to 10 votes or less. Under state law, she’d have to cover the costs of a recount unless the difference was less than 10 votes.
Meinhardt also said she agreed with Penterman that going forward with the general election instead of slowing things with a recount was in the public’s best interest because of the short time between primaries and the general election for this special election.
With all four counties that participated in the primary race reporting no changes to vote totals from their boards of canvass, the unofficial vote difference remains unchanged.
Penterman finished with 758 votes, while Meinhardt was at 742. Legislative aide Nick Krueger was in third place with 621 votes in the eight-way GOP primary.
