Arco was declared the winner on election night coming out on top by just 12 votes. As a result Witt requested a recount – which took place Wednesday at the Anoka County courthouse. Arco came out on top again, this time by 13 votes.
Said Witt: “I was not surprised by the outcome.”
“We did gain one vote,” said Arco’s campaign manager Joshua Ciccone. “It didn’t take away from the Witt campaign. It was an over vote. The election judges and myself agreed that it was a vote for Zach Arco, so his vote total did go up. It went from 12 votes that he won by to 13 total. It was still very close.”
Approximately 4300 votes were cast in five precincts. The recount was meticulous and took a couple hours. It involved election judges, lawyers and citizens who were interested in how the wheels of politics actually turn.
“The process was very nice,” Ciccone said. “Anoka County did a great job of recounting. The election judges did a very good job.”
Relief and validation
For the Arco camp it was relief and validation.
“Not all campaigns go into overtime,” Ciccone said. “It kind of prolongs the campaign. The anxiety kind of goes up and stuff. Everyone kind of gets motivated again. But it’s nice to have it over with.”
Ciccone is eager for Arco to join the School Board.
“This is a victory for Zach Arco and for the whole community of Anoka-Hennepin,” Ciccone said “There will now be three school board candidates who are parents choice candidates.”
For Witt it was bittersweet. In this case democracy worked, even though she wasn’t happy with the results.
“One vote changed, which can happen,” Witt said. “But everything pretty much held up exactly the way it went through the machine on election night – which to me shows the process works…Obviously disappointed in the outcome but hope that going forward Zach Arco will listen to some of the things that were said on the other side as well. Since the race was close I think we need to represent all of the people in our district, not just a few.”
