Kent’s recount gives both 3rd District candidates one more vote in Cowlitz County

LONGVIEW — Cowlitz County has finalized its portion of the requested machine recount for the 3rd Congressional District race with one additional vote counted for each candidate, while other counties in the district have scheduled tallies later this week.

The Cowlitz County recount has not changed the margin between winning Democrat candidate Marie Gluesenkamp Perez and Republican Joe Kent, who filed to hold the optional recount after his defeat was certified earlier in December by the Washington Secretary of State.

Each of the seven counties that make up the 3rd Congressional district will hold a recount at its own pace over the next week. Clark County announced it will conduct its recount beginning this afternoon and certify the results next Tuesday. Lewis County’s canvassing board will meet to begin the recount Friday morning.

Washington’s 3rd Congressional District also includes Pacific, Skamania and Wahkiakum counties and a portion of Thurston County.

In Cowlitz County, final and certified results for the race are now at 24,903 votes for Kent and 19,648 votes for Gluesenkamp Perez. Gluesenkamp Perez won the district as a whole by just over 2,600 votes, according to the Secretary of State.

The state Secretary of State will recertify the final results once all counties have completed their recount.

The Cowlitz County recount started Tuesday afternoon and the results were certified by 5 p.m. that day. Machine recounts involve double checking the ballots that were initially marked with no candidate selected in the Congressional race.

Kent’s campaign paid for the voluntary recount last week once his loss was certified by Washington’s Secretary of State. The recount cost $48,500, or 15 cents for each vote in the general election.