He added he was asking for a recount in three counties “in which there were large numbers of paper or mail-in ballots.” His recount petition says the three counties are the ones at the highly populated southern end of the district in the Rio Grande Valley: Cameron, Hidalgo and Willacy counties.
LaMantia said in a statement that Hinojosa’s recount request was “democracy taking its course” and that she was confident her win would be upheld.
Senate District 27, where Democratic incumbent Eddie Lucio Jr. is retiring, was part of Republicans’ push to gain new ground in South Texas in the Nov. 8 election, which produced mixed results.
Hinojosa had the support of Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and former President Donald Trump.
LaMantia led by 569 votes coming out of election night. She declared victory then.
Under Texas law, a candidate is eligible to request a recount if their deficit amounts to 10% or less of the winner’s numbers of votes. The deadline to request a recount is 5 p.m. Wednesday.
This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2022/11/30/south-texas-senate-district-27-recount/.
The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.
