REGIONAL- St. Louis County election officials were scheduled to do a partial ballot recount on Thursday morning of votes cast in St. Louis County Sherriff’s race in several Duluth precincts at the request of third-place finisher Chad Walsh.
County Elections Supervisor Phil Chapman announced the official discretionary recount on Tuesday afternoon, and later confirmed for the Timberjay that it was Walsh who requested it. Walsh is responsible for paying all costs associated with the recount, Chapman said.
Former Duluth Police Chief Gordon Ramsay finished first in the nonpartisan countywide contest with 40 percent of the vote, followed by Undersheriff Jason Lukovsky with 33 percent, with both qualifying to move on to the Nov. 8 general election. Walsh, who called himself “a constitutional sheriff,” a controversial right-wing theory that suggests sheriffs are the ultimate authorities in their counties, finished third in the race with 26 percent.
As expected, Duluth went strongly for Ramsay, who won 32 of the city’s 33 precincts, while Walsh finished last in all 33 precincts.
Of the three precincts selected by Walsh for the recount, Ramsay enjoyed the biggest edge in the eighth precinct, where 716 ballots were cast. Ramsay took 71.1 percent to Lukovsky’s 19.8 percent and Walsh’s 9.1 percent.
Walsh performed the best in the 860-vote sixth precinct, but still only picked up 14.3 percent of the vote. Ramsay placed first in the precinct with 54.4 percent and Lukovsky finished with 31.3 percent.
In Duluth’s third precinct, the final one to be recounted, Ramsay won with 57.4 percent of the 690 ballots cast. Lukovsky took 33.8 percent of the vote, and Walsh tallied the remaining 8.8 percent.