Election canvass gives Lalouette-Crawford a one-vote edge over Dodd for 1st District county commission seat

Following the election canvass at the Nov. 10 Marion County Board of Commissioners meeting, Republican Lori Lalouette-Crawford has been credited with a one-vote win over independent challenger Craig Dodd in the race for the 1st District seat on the commission. The official tally was 676 votes for Lalouette-Crawford and 675 for Dodd.

At the end of election day, Nov. 4, Dodd was leading Lalouette-Crawford, 670-668, with about 22 ballots needing to be reviewed for various reasons.

With the review completed, Dodd now has the option of asking for a total recount on Wednesday, but at his own expense.

Monday?s reversal of fortunes was fitting in an election process for the 1st District seat that was unusual from the start. Incumbent commissioner Roger Fleming announced on the filing deadline day that he would not seek relection. That meant potential a successor would need to use alternate strategies to get their name before the voters.

Lalouette-Crawford and Donald Ewert ran as write-in candidates for the Republi?can nomination in the Aug. 5 primary, while Dodd qualified for the general-election ballot as an independent candidate by using the certification process. Lalouette-Crawford prevailed over Ewert in the primary, 191-118.

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