As of early this morning, Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne was clinging to a 373-vote lead over former Maricopa County Attorney Tom Horne in the GOP primary for attorney general.
The shocking results came late last night after Horne appeared to have lost the race -- at one point trailing Thomas by about 9,000 votes.
With the majority of precincts reporting, Thomas is refusing to concede and says there are still votes to be counted.
In a statement provided to New Times, the former county attorney says the following:
"The time for debating and tough words in the Republican Primary is
over. The time for vote counting is upon us. I appreciated Tom Horne's
words earlier in the campaign and just last night when things were not
looking his way that he would support me were I to be the nominee.
Likewise, if Tom prevails I don't want there to be any doubt that I
will support him against the Democrat. Let's see where the vote counting
takes us knowing that in the end the Republican Party will offer a
nominee that is vastly better than a Democrat counterpart who opposes
Senate Bill 1070 and who refuses to challenge ObamaCare by joining other
Attorneys General across the U.S."
We spoke this morning with Thomas' attorney, Barnett Lotstein, who says
the statement isn't intended to suggest there are any discrepancies in
the numbers, just a reminder that not all the votes have been counted -- he cites precincts in Maricopa and Pima counties that have not yet reported.
Lotstein says no Florida-style recount is in the works but if -- when
all precincts report -- the race is within 200 votes an automatic
recount will take place.
It should come as no comfort to Thomas that the precincts that have not yet reported are in counties where Thomas watched his 9,000-vote lead evaporate last night.
