Over two weeks since polls closed on election day, the second winner in the Michigan State University Board of Trustees race is still unclear, though one contender admitted defeat Wednesday.
AP called one seat for Republican Mike Balow on Nov. 7. But as final votes are trickling in, it’s still too close to say who will win the second seat.
As of midday Wednesday, Democrat Rebecca Bahar-Cook has just 4,083 more votes than Republican Julie Maday.
Bahar-Cook has 2,426,090 votes, or 24.24%. Maday has 2,422,007 votes, or 24.2%. Democrat Thomas Stallworth has 2,261,940 votes, or 22.6%, according to unofficial Secretary of State results. AP has not called the second seat and the votes have not been fully counted or certified by Michigan’s Board of Canvassers.
Maday admitted defeat in a campaign email Wednesday midday, congratulating Balow and Bahar-Cook and criticizing the state’s electoral process.
“I'm thankful to all of my family, friends and supporters and wish Mike and Rebecca the best for the University that our family loves,” Maday wrote.
Maday led Bahar-Cook in the race for days after the election, until the Secretary of State corrected a clerical error that undercounted votes for Bahar-Cook.
Maday criticized the error in the counting process, calling Michigan’s system “clearly broken and inefficient.”
“To be clear, I am not implying there is anything mischievous,” Maday wrote. “However, we expect the ability to rely on data published by the SOS to be accurate.”
Counties had to canvass their results by midnight last night, but the Secretary of State Office is still putting all those votes on its website, spokesperson Angela Benander said.