Dacey concedes after Knapp pulls ahead in County Council at large race
Nov. 15—Frederick County Councilman Phil Dacey has conceded defeat in his bid for reelection, after mail-in vote counting on Monday propelled first-time candidate Renee Knapp ahead of him in the at-large race.
With the concession from Dacey, a Republican, Democrats appeared poised to secure five of the seven seats on the council, one more than they have now.
In a Facebook post conceding defeat on Tuesday, Dacey wrote that he was confident "Frederick will continue to thrive" with Knapp and Democrat Brad Young — the lead vote getter in the race — serving as the County Council's two at-large representatives.
"We should all be proud of the election here in Frederick. Voters made a different choice in this election and that is ok — in fact, it is the way democracy is supposed to work," Dacey wrote. "I fear that many have lost sight of the fact that we are one community and one nation and that our differences make us stronger together."
Knapp, in second place, led Dacey, in third, by 465 votes following mail-in vote counting on Monday.
On Election Night, Dacey was the lead vote getter in the four-person race. Tony Chemlik, the other Republican in the race, was in second place.
But Knapp and Young have received three out of every four mail-in votes cast in the race.
After mail-in ballot counting on Friday, Young jumped from third in the field to first. Then on Monday, mail-in vote counting brought Knapp from fourth to second, ahead of the two Republicans. Chmelik was in fourth place.
Chmelik did not immediately respond to a phone call requesting comment on Tuesday.
Of the races to represent each of the five County Council districts, just one remained within 2,000 votes. Following Monday's count, Councilman Jerry Donald, a Democrat, led first-time candidate John Distel, a Republican, by 570 votes in the District 1 race.
Donald has received three out of every four mail-in votes in his reelection bid for District 1, which covers the southwestern part of the county, including Middletown, Burkittsville, Rosemont, Brunswick and land west of Md. 355, including parts of Urbana and the Sugarloaf Mountain area.
Distel did not immediately respond to a phone call requesting comment on Tuesday.
The Frederick County Board of Elections is scheduled to resume ballot counting on Wednesday at 10 a.m. There were 7,752 ballots left to count after Monday's tally, including 5,150 mail-in ballots and 2,602 provisional ballots.
On Wednesday, local canvassers will count the provisional ballots, which voters cast during early voting or on Election Day when there is a question at the polling place about their registration or eligibility.
The Board of Elections is expected to certify the election results on Friday.
Follow Jack Hogan on Twitter: @jckhogan
