ADA COUNTY — Ada County Highway District had three seats up for grabs this election, and only two votes separated one of the races.
Rebecca Arnold, a 16-year veteran to the commission chair, took on a new name to the ballot, opponent Alexis Pickering.
Around 30,000 people cast their votes for this race. Pickering came out on top with a little over 15,700 votes, and Arnold just two votes behind.
"To come up and win is huge, and I think that's a testament to what the community and my district wants, and they want to see change. They want collaboration. They want safe pathways for everybody, and so I'm just really excited to get started and have the results that we have," Pickering said.
Although Pickering has won, her opponent Arnold can call for a recount of the ballots.
Ada County Clerk Phil McGrane says Arnold has every right to call for a recount, and because the race is so close, he anticipates she will.
"If your going to be this close, you want to make sure in fact that this is the outcome for the race, and so I think it's a good test of our processes and systems to make sure it is. Sometimes we have seen the processes where the votes have been as wide as 1,000 votes. We never see other than a very small vote shift in a recount. So, under these circumstances, it makes perfect sense to request one," McGrane said.
Arnold told Idaho News 6 that she is advised a full recount would be appropriate in this situation, and she is working through the details of the process.
