With all provisional and same-day votes counted, Democrat Joe Cobb has won the Roanoke mayoral election by 59 votes.
Late on election night last week, Republican David Bowers was in the lead by just 19 votes. But as provisional and same-day ballots were counted throughout the week, Cobb slowly took the lead.
Tuesday night, he was ahead by 69 votes , and though Bowers gained 10 votes on him today, he is still in the lead after all ballots have been counted. He beat Bowers by 0.15% of the vote.
The vote totals on the State Board of Elections site came to 15,221 votes for Cobb and 15,162 votes for Bowers.
Stephanie Moon Reynolds, who ran as an independent, received about 25% of the vote.
The vote may not be certified until Friday, which is the commonwealth deadline for each locality. There is the possibility of a recount because of the close margin of Cobb’s win. Because the margin of difference is within the 0.5% range, Bowers can request a free recount.
“This small margin of victory proves that in an election every single vote matters, and every single valid vote must be counted,” Cobb said in a statement sent out on Wednesday evening. “I continue to ask for patience and understanding as these final steps are taken, and will support and stand by the outcome, regardless of the final tally.”