Every vote counts. In the middle of a national wave of Democratic victories, one Kentucky Democrat has been able to join in the festivities thanks to a winning margin of just one vote. Democratic state House contender Jim Glenn beat Republican incumbent D.J. Johnson, representing yet another flip in a sea of many.
The results had been under consideration since the Tuesday when voting in the midterm elections concluded. A review of machine tabulations found no irregularities when it was completed this past Thursday, and for now, the results remain as is. Results are set to be certified this week.
Glenn commented:
‘I’ve had 25 people tell me they are the one person that voted for me. Whether it was one vote or one thousand, it’s a win. A win’s a win no matter how you count it.’
Curiously enough, Glenn has actually served in the state House seat he (seemingly) won before. He served for five straight terms before the Republican he dethroned beat him in 2016. In that year’s wave of Republican victories, the GOP won a super majority in the state legislature for the first time in 100 years — and it’s held going into the next legislative session. If all current results stand, Democrats will have 39 seats in the 100 member body.
Johnson has indicated apparent plans to ask for a recount, which would require the state House to convene a body of five to nine supervisors to handle it.
In the meantime, he commented:
‘I have fought that urge to second guess. I know I ran the best campaign I could.’
He’s not alone — even in the state of Kentucky — in having lost to a Democrat by a narrow margin. In state House District 96, Republican Jill York lost to Democrat Kathy Hinkle by five votes, while similarly, in the state’s 91st House District, Republican Toby Herald lost to Democrat Cluster Howard by just seven votes.
Elsewhere in the country, plenty of other Democrats have also managed dramatic victories despite some setbacks, like the loss of a few U.S. Senate seats and the defeat of Florida gubernatorial contender Andrew Gillum.
Democrat Kyrsten Sinema, for instance, took a late lead in vote tallies in the race to replace retiring Republican Jeff Flake in the U.S. Senate and has since been declared the victor. She’s the first Democrat Arizonans have elected to the Senate in decades.
Other Democrats have cruised to victory via late emerging leads too. In New Jersey, for instance, former Obama adviser Andy Kim took a late lead in vote totals and unseated the incumbent Congressional Republican, marking the fourth House seat flip in New Jersey alone. The shift has left just one Republican in the state’s entire Congressional delegation.
Republicans — including President Donald Trump — have unsurprisingly freaked out at the balance of power shift. While Democrats have talked about launching an array of new investigations into the administration at the national level, Trump has retorted with a claim that he and the GOP will launch their own punitive investigations if Democrats come any closer.
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