Dem Senate candidate still considering recount
by VDC staff
Democratic challenger Audrey Grant of Hardwick has decided against seeking a recount after losing the Caledonia 2 House District election to incumbent Republican Rep. Michael Southworth of Walden by just eight votes, according to a Nov. 6 report in the Caledonian Record.
Southworth received 997 votes to Grant’s 989 in Tuesday’s election. Grant carried Hardwick and Stannard, while Southworth won Walden.
“I know that 8 votes is close enough, and a lot of folks were talking to me about it, but I’m just really OK not pursuing it,” Grant told the Caledonian Record, the daily newspaper for Caledonia County and parts of Essex and Orleans counties. She called Southworth Thursday morning to concede.
Grant, 25, is operations director at Northeast Kingdom Organizing and said she may run again in 2028.
Southworth, who will begin his second term in the Vermont House, expressed confidence in local election officials. “I think they want to be very careful, and I think they do a good job,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Caledonian Record reported that Democratic Senate challenger David Roth was still considering whether to seek a recount in his close race against incumbent Republican Sen. Scott Beck. Roth had not announced a decision by the newspaper’s Thursday deadline.