Rob Sand holds narrow lead in Iowa auditor race over Todd Halbur after recounts

With a pair of administrative recounts completed in two Iowa counties, Democratic incumbent Rob Sand is declaring victory over Republican challenger Todd Halbur in the state auditor's race.

Halbur hasn't conceded and said Thursday he intends to ask for a full statewide recount of the auditor's race.

Des Moines and Warren counties each conducted administrative recounts Thursday to double-check some election results. Des Moines County's initial election night results were short by about 800 absentee votes, while Warren County initially left out the Election Day votes from five precincts, amounting to about 2,000 uncounted ballots.

The revised results show Sand leading Halbur by 2,614 votes, 50.1% to 49.9%. The results are unofficial until they are canvassed.

The Associated Press had not called the race as of 5 p.m. Thursday, but on Twitter, Sand declared victory, sharing a photo of the news story about the margin in the race and one of himself in camouflage in the woods with a trophy buck.

"1 afternoon, 2 trophies," Sand tweeted. "Thank you Iowans for your trust for another 4 years as state suditor. We will keep finding your bucks!"

"I’m just really, really glad that Iowans are willing to put their trust in me to do this job one more time," he said in an interview with the Des Moines Register Thursday. "I’m excited about that and I appreciate it."

Halbur said errors in the counting require a full statewide recount of the race.

"Over the course of days we have seen human error, technical errors and maybe even some blatant egregious errors that have happened to our votes across this state," Halbur said. "And therefore I will ask for a recount of the state auditor’s race. We will follow the process of the recount according to the rule of law outlined and then after this recount I believe myself and the voters of Iowa will feel confident in these results."

A win by Sand would make him the only statewide elected Democrat in Iowa after Attorney General Tom Miller lost to Republican Brenna Bird and Treasurer Mike Fitzgerald lost to Republican Roby Smith.

Sand said he intends to expand a program promoting government efficiency in his next term, and "just continue to crack down on waste, fraud and abuse."

Dallas County will conduct its own administrative recount of four precincts on Monday, but the results are only expected to affect four votes, one in each precinct.

Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate thanked Des Moines and Warren counties for their work conducting the recounts in a statement Thursday.

“It is vital we ensure every ballot is counted and the process is open and transparent,” Pate said. “Important checks and balances are in place to protect the integrity of the vote and my thanks to these counties for taking the time to make sure we get it right. The integrity of Iowa’s elections is my top priority.”

More:Democrat Rob Sand holds narrow lead in bid for re-election as Iowa auditor

Scott County to conduct administrative recount after absentee ballot tabulation error

On Thursday evening, Pate announced he was calling on another county to conduct an administrative recount because of an error in tabulating its absentee ballots.

"Thanks to the checks and balances we have in place, we discovered an error in the tabulation of Scott County's absentee ballot numbers," Pate wrote on Twitter. "I'm calling on the county to conduct an administrative recount ASAP. We will ensure the integrity of Iowa's elections is maintained."

The Scott County recount could affect the race in Iowa House District 81 in Davenport, where Republican Luana Stoltenberg leads Democrat Craig Cooper by 29 votes.

The Quad City Times also reported Thursday that 47 voters in Scott County were given the wrong ballots when they showed up to vote at their Davenport precinct on Election Day.

Those voters should have been able to vote in the Senate District 49 race, where Democrat Cindy Winckler ran unopposed, and the House District 97 race, where Democrat Ken Croken took nearly 73% of the vote against Libertarian Andrew Onsgard, the paper reported.

Some candidates in close races could still request recounts

While the administrative recounts are over, candidates in close contests could still request recounts of their individual races.

State Rep. Garrett Gobble, R-Ankeny, announced Thursday he plans to request a recount of the Iowa House District 42 race, where he trails Democrat Heather Matson by 24 votes, 49.9% to 50.1%, according to unofficial results.

"Whether as your representative or your candidate, I've put my heart and soul into this district and given it my all, and I don’t intend to stop now," Gobble posted on his Facebook page. "In this instance, that means following the protocols laid out in state law for requesting a recount for a race within 50 votes."

More:Des Moines metro legislative election results: Gobble to ask for a recount

The Associated Press has not called the race as of Thursday afternoon, though Matson claimed victory on Wednesday.

"I am grateful to the voters, countless volunteers, family and friends who made our victory in Ankeny possible," Matson told the Register in a text statement. "I look forward to these results being finalized and getting back to the Capitol to represent the people in my community."

Gobble, 27, narrowly defeated Matson in 2020 to flip party control of the seat.

"We will follow the process and accept the results of the recount with the confidence in knowing that we gave it everything we could," Gobble wrote on Facebook.

A pair of other Iowa House races are also separated by fewer than 30 votes.

Democrat Josh Turek leads Republican Sarah Abdouch by nine votes in Iowa House District 20 in Council Bluffs. And Republican Luana Stoltenberg leads Democrat Craig Cooper by 29 votes in Iowa House District 81 in Davenport.

In a post on Facebook, Abdouch suggested she would request a recount.

Linn County hiccup overcounted 600 absentee ballots

Linn County also updated its unofficial results Thursday after Pate announced the county had reported 600 more absentee ballots than had been received by their office by the time polls closed Tuesday.

The auditor's office reviewed and re-uploaded their results after the secretary of state's office alerted them to the issue, Kevin Hall, a spokesperson for the secretary of state's office, said in an email.

"The Linn County Auditor’s Office did not follow the basic review process recommended by the Secretary of State’s Office in multiple trainings to county auditors," Hall said in an email. "Failure to verify their totals to their absentee precinct board’s election night results before publishing was the cause of the issue. It has now been corrected."

Linn County Auditor Joel Miller said a laptop his staff was using to upload the results locked up Tuesday night, so they switched to a different computer. They thought the results hadn't uploaded from the first computer, so they uploaded them a second time.

Miller said the seven days between the election and canvassing the results is meant to ensure the final results are accurate when they're canvassed next Tuesday.

"The moral of the story is that our checks and balances worked," Miller said Thursday. "The secretary of state has access to numbers via their system, we have access to numbers via our system and when they don’t match that causes us to go back and double-check. And we did that. Now everything matches and balances out to where it's supposed to."

Des Moines Register reporter Virginia Barreda contributed to this article.

Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Rob Sand leads Todd Halbur in Iowa auditor election after recounts