Democrat Joe Cobb has been confirmed as Roanoke’s mayor-elect, although a recount cut his lead in half.
After the two-day recount, Cobb had 15,246 votes while Republican David Bowers had 15,217. Cobb’s initial 59-vote lead had shrunk to a 29-vote lead by the end of the recount.
It was unclear Friday afternoon whether the changed votes came from one precinct or multiple precincts. Nicholas Ocampo, the city’s director of elections and general registrar, could not immediately be reached for comment.
“Watching [the election officials’] commitment to this process was extraordinary,” Cobb said after the announcement. “It really deepens my appreciation and gratitude for democracy on every level, and so I’m very proud of our citizens and the work that they put into this process.”
Bowers was not present for the end of the recount on Friday. In a statement he sent out later in the afternoon, he said: “I concede the election and will not further contest the election. … It is now obvious that a plurality of the voters have spoken and the election is decided. I have been unable to reach Mayor-elect Joe Cobb, but I publicly wish him and all the City Council winners all the best.”
During the final hours of election night on Nov. 5, Bowers led Cobb by 19 votes in a three-way race, with Stephanie Moon Reynolds, running as an independent, in third place.
But election officials had not yet counted more than 1,200 provisional ballots. As those same-day and provisional ballots were counted, Bowers’ lead dwindled until Cobb was declared the winner by 59 votes the next week.
Bowers filed for a recount, citing unspecific “contradictions, imperfections and irregularities” in the election. Cobb stated shortly after that election officials “had diligently followed secure procedures and verified and counted all ballots in certifying the election results.”
Ocampo said multiple times that he was confident in the election process and its integrity.
In a Nov. 14 statement, he said, “90 days into this role, I have been inspired by our election officials’ dedication to administering an honest, fair and secure election despite increased scrutiny and heightened pressure.”
The recount procedure
The vote totals for the mayor’s race fell within the 0.5% margin permissible by Virginia state code for a locality-funded recount, meaning the city paid for it.
Eight scanners were brought to the city courthouse, with two election officials working each machine. Two observers, one per political party, were allowed to observe each scanner. Twenty-nine boxes containing over 40,000 ballots were counted.
Circuit Judge David Carson, who oversaw the recount with two other judges, said early Thursday morning that the two parties both “worked professionally and diligently” in the days leading up to the recount.
During the recount, same-day and provisional ballots were hand-counted in the next-door courtroom by four officials, as were ballots that were rejected by the machines. This might happen if the choice bubbles weren’t filled in properly, an observer said.
Logic and accuracy testing of the machines was performed the day before the recount, “without incident,” Carson said. Some of the machines processed ballots quicker than others during the recount, election officials said.
Early Thursday, an election official in the quieter hand-counting courtroom said, “We just keep coming up with different numbers.” In those cases, the two officials had to start that batch of ballots over again until they counted the same number.
By 7 p.m. Thursday, 24 boxes of ballots had been counted, Ocampo said, leaving five for Friday.
Election officials began finishing their boxes and filing out of the courthouse around 10:30 a.m. Friday after beginning right at 7:30 a.m.
“It was real. It was fun. But it was not really fun,” Charles Shell, chair of the Roanoke City Electoral Board, said Friday while waiting for Carson to announce the results.
The last ballot was counted just before noon, bringing a round of cheers from election officials, and the announcement that Cobb’s win had been upheld came around 1 p.m.
When asked about the closeness of the race, Cobb said, “As I’ve said all along, every vote matters, and everybody counts in this process.”
According to data from the Virginia Public Access Project, recounts in state legislative races from recent years show that a margin change like this one is rare, but not unheard of.
In 2021, A.C. Cordoza was elected in the 91st House of Delegates District after a recount that reflected a 30-vote margin change from the original election tally.
There will be a vacant seat on the Roanoke City Council, as Cobb, who is the vice mayor, will not finish his council term before he takes office as mayor. He said the procedure to fill his seat will be discussed starting with the new council’s first meeting of the year on Jan. 6. He said he anticipates an open application process, but “it’s ultimately council’s decision.”
“We’ve got such an exciting future unfolding, and I’m ready to get to work,” Cobb said.
