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*Correction appended
Democrat Joanna Cattanach conceded Thursday afternoon to Republican state Rep. Morgan Meyer of Dallas, closing out the last recount requested by a candidate after the Nov. 6 midterm election.
“After several days of continued counting and a formal recount, we have ended our campaign still just 220 votes short of our opponent,” Cattanach said in a statement. “I have called Mr. Meyer and congratulated him because our district deserves leaders who respect the will of the electorate and the democratic process.”
Cattanach had trailed Meyer by roughly 200 votes after the election and requested a recount nearly a week after polls closed. The outcome of the House District 108 race runs counter to the pattern this year in other Dallas-area districts, where nearly all state House seats once held by Republicans flipped in Democrats’ favor.
“I am so very proud of the work we did to move a long considered unwinnable district where no Democrat even ran in 2016, and no challenger has come close to victory, to a district that will now be considered among the most competitive in 2020,” Cattanach said.
Meyer had already declared victory in the race weeks ago. He wrote in a Facebook post the day after the election that he was “honored and grateful for the support and to be returning to the Texas House to work on behalf of families, and Texas.”
Cattanach’s race was one of four in the state that did not end on Election Day. In Texas’ 23rd Congressional District, Democrat Gina Ortiz Jones trailed U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, R-Helotes, by roughly 1,000 votes before conceding almost two weeks after the midterms.
There are two other races that appear to still be in limbo as none of the candidates have yet requested a recount. State Rep. Mike Schofield, R-Katy, is trailing Democrat Gina Calanni and state Rep. Dwayne Bohac, R-Houston, is leading Democrat Adam Milasincic.
Gov. Greg Abbott is scheduled to canvass the votes on Dec. 3. The deadline to request a recount is Dec. 5.
Correction: An earlier version of this story contained an inaccurate deadline for candidates to request a recount
Source: Texas Tribune Blue Government News
