Nearly a month after voters cast their ballots, City Councilmember Eric Ulrich has been certified by the Board of Elections (BOE) as the official victor in the race for District 32.
The Republican beat his opponent, District Leader Lew Simon, with 10,488 votes compared to Simon’s 9,080, a difference of 1,408 votes, according to the BOE certification report.
Immediately following the general election on November 5, both candidates declared victory.
However, as more votes rolled in, Ulrich was unofficially named the winner by the BOE and various media outlets.
But Simon did not concede and instead wished to wait until all absentee ballots were counted.
Since Election night, however, Ulrich and his camp believed the number of absentee ballots would not outnumber the difference in votes, and the incumbent’s return to office was ensured.
Simon said despite the outcome, he is “very proud of the race that I ran.”
“I’m still a Democratic leader. I’m very proud to always be there to help the people,” he said.
The close race was reminiscent of the 2009 City Council District 32 Special Election in which Ulrich and Simon faced off against each other. At that time, Simon held on but the councilmember came out on top.
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