Beaufort County resident Bill Cook apparently prevailed in a recount Monday to determine the winner of the race for the District 1 seat in the state Senate.
Cook won the election with a 31-vote margin, collecting 43,740 votes (50.02 percent) in the district to 43,709 votes (49.98 percent) for incumbent Stan White of Dare County, according to the N.C. State Board of Elections’ website at 8 p.m. Monday.
“That’s old news. At least I think it’s old news. I don’t really know. According to my count, it’s around 21 votes,” Cook said in a brief interview Monday night.
Cook opined on moving from the state House to the state Senate.
“The biggest adjustment will be getting to know different folks. I got to know a lot of really great legislators on the House side. I know some already in the Senate, but I don’t know near as many in the Senate as I know in the House. That’s really what legislating is all about; you build relationships with people so you know who you can trust and who you can get to help you and who you want to help,” Cook said.
Cook said he has some ideas about possible legislation he might want to introduce in the Senate, but he is not ready to discuss them yet.
“I have some ideas and I have a certain vision of what I want to try to do. … But first I want to make sure I have won,” Cook said.
Telephone messages left for White on Monday afternoon had not been returned Monday evening.
Cook, a Republican and who currently represents District 6 in the state House, held a 32-vote lead when recounts in the eight counties that are a part of District 1 began Monday morning. White, a Democrat held a small lead after unofficial vote totals came in Election Day. After canvassing was completed 10 days later, Cook had taken a slim lead in the race.
In Beaufort County, the Board of Elections used 10 voting tabulators during the recount, which began at 9 a.m. When the recount ended seven hours later, Cook had picked up one vote and lost a vote. The added vote was in the River Road precinct. Cook lost one vote in the recount of provisional ballots. Other Beaufort County vote totals remained the same.
The local recount left Cook with 12,891 votes and White with 10,204 votes, which they had before the recount began.
“It went smoothly. We finished right at 4 o’clock. We’ve already overnighted the stuff to the state board,” said Anita Bullock Branch, deputy director of elections in the county.
Cook, who defeated incumbent Arthur Williams for the District 6 seat in the state House in 2010, observed the recount at the Beaufort County Board of Elections, as did observers from the Democratic and Republican parties.
In Hyde County, the recount resulted in Cook losing a vote, finishing with 839 votes. White picked up two votes, finishing with 1,461 votes.
Dare County’s recount gave Cook two more votes, moving his total to 8,334 votes. White’s vote total remained unchanged at 9,185 votes.
In Perquimans County, the recount ended with Cook and White having the some vote totals after the Nov. 16 canvass — Cook had 3,316 votes and White had 3,116 votes.
In Pasquotank County’s recount, Cook lost two votes, falling from 6,679 votes after the canvass to 6,677 votes Monday. White lost four votes, falling from 10,831 votes after the canvass to 10,827 votes.
As of 6 p.m. Monday, Currituck County’s vote total was unchanged from the canvass, which had Cook with 6,754 votes and White with 4.086 votes according to the state board.
In Gates County as of 6:10 p.m. Monday, the vote total was unchanged, with White having 2,958 votes to Cook’s 2,281 votes, according to the state board.
At 6:15 p.m. Monday, Camden County was showing 2,650 votes for Cook and 1,872 votes for White, according to the state board.