Manu
11-13-2002, 06:20 PM
SIOUX FALLS, South Dakota (Reuters) -- Republican Rep. John Thune said Wednesday he would not seek a recount in a hard-fought U.S. Senate race that saw him lose to Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson by 524 votes out of nearly 335,000 cast.
"My conclusion is that it is in the best interest of South Dakota for me to accept the results as they stand today," he told a news conference.
Thune said a recount -- which the narrow margin entitled him to seek by state law -- would be unnecessarily divisive at a time when his energies could be better spent working to reunite the state.
A recount would not have affected control of the next U.S. Senate, which Republicans won back from the Democrats in last week's election. At the moment, the new Senate when it meets in January will have 51 Republicans, 47 Democrats and one independent. One seat -- that of Democrat Mary Landrieu of Louisiana -- is headed for a runoff next month.
An official canvass completed Tuesday found Johnson had 167,481 votes to 166,957 for Thune -- a net gain of four votes for Thune over unofficial results compiled on election night.
The South Dakota contest had been billed as a proxy battle between Democratic Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota and Republican President Bush. Johnson's razor-thin victory was one of the few bright spots of the election for Daschle, who said he was devastated by the party's loss of control of the Senate.
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"My conclusion is that it is in the best interest of South Dakota for me to accept the results as they stand today," he told a news conference.
Thune said a recount -- which the narrow margin entitled him to seek by state law -- would be unnecessarily divisive at a time when his energies could be better spent working to reunite the state.
A recount would not have affected control of the next U.S. Senate, which Republicans won back from the Democrats in last week's election. At the moment, the new Senate when it meets in January will have 51 Republicans, 47 Democrats and one independent. One seat -- that of Democrat Mary Landrieu of Louisiana -- is headed for a runoff next month.
An official canvass completed Tuesday found Johnson had 167,481 votes to 166,957 for Thune -- a net gain of four votes for Thune over unofficial results compiled on election night.
The South Dakota contest had been billed as a proxy battle between Democratic Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota and Republican President Bush. Johnson's razor-thin victory was one of the few bright spots of the election for Daschle, who said he was devastated by the party's loss of control of the Senate.
www.cnn.com