Black makes House District 2 runoff by 14 votes after provisional ballots counted

Jun. 1—The count of provisional ballots in two counties Tuesday put Limestone County Commissioner Jason Black into a runoff for the state House District 2 Republican nomination by a margin of 14 votes.

Black will face Ben Harrison, a former Limestone commissioner, in the June 21 primary runoff, barring a request for a recount and a change in vote totals. Harrison was the top vote recipient in the race with 32.81%, followed by Black with 31.06%, Kimberly Butler with 30.92% and Terrance Irelan with 5.21%. A candidate needed more than 50% of the votes to win without a runoff.

Black said he had anxious moments waiting for the count of provisional ballots but would approach the runoff in three weeks "wide open. I'm polishing up the tanks and battleships now. I'm just ready to go into battle."

Provisional ballots are votes where there was initially a question about the voter's eligibility. The vote is counted if the voter is found to be eligible.

For a primary election, a candidate can request a recount of votes but must pay for it.

Butler, who with her husband owns and runs Butler Studio Photography in Florence, said after the provisional ballots were counted that she has "not made a decision on my next step."

Butler was five votes behind Black for the runner-up spot in the race when all but provisional ballots were counted on election day, May 24. She picked up an additional 8 votes from provisional ballots counted in Lauderdale County while Black added 2. Lauderdale finished counting its provisional votes in mid-afternoon and that gave Butler a brief 1-vote lead while Limestone was still tabulating provisional votes.

But close to 5 p.m., the Limestone provisional ballot counting ended, giving Black 25 additional votes and Butler only 10 to send Black into the runoff. The final unofficial vote totals had Harrison with 3,290, Black with 3,115, Butler with 3,101 and Irelan with 522.

Black is no stranger to provisional ballot counting. In his 2014 race for the Limestone Commission District 3 Republican nomination, he received six of the 11 provisional ballots cast in his southeast Limestone district to finish with 50.24% of the primary vote and avoided a runoff.

"Out of three elections, this is the second time my election has gone to provisional ballots," Black, a two-term commissioner, said.

The state House District 2 has been represented by Lynn Greer, R-Rogersville, who is not seeking reelection. There is no Democratic candidate for the seat.

The district includes eastern Lauderdale County and western Limestone County. Representatives earn $53,956 per year.

Black received the most votes in Limestone County in his race with 1,971 to Harrison's 1,435 and Butler's 748. Harrison was stronger than Black in Lauderdale County where he received 1,855 votes to Black's 1,144. Butler led in her home county with 2,353.

—brucem@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2431. Twitter @BruceMcLellan1