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Garcia Not Ready to Concede in State Superintendent Race

With almost 97 percent of precincts reporting, the race for Superintendent of Public Instruction remains tight, and neither camp is ready to give up. Republican Diane Douglas currently has 51.08 percent of the votes, while Democrat David Garcia holds 48.79 percent. That 2.29 point margin represents a difference of 25,632...
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With almost 97 percent of precincts reporting, the race for Superintendent of Public Instruction remains tight, and neither camp is ready to give up.

Republican Diane Douglas currently has 51.08 percent of the votes, while Democrat David Garcia holds 48.79 percent.

That 2.29 point margin represents a difference of 25,632 votes, with Douglas outnumbering Garcia in early ballots and at the polls. Of the 1,566 precincts in the state, 49 have yet to report their results.

See also: AZ Superintendent, Secretary of State Races Closer Than Expected

Though his numbers have been below Douglas' since returns began coming in last night, Garcia isn't ready to throw in the towel. "We are waiting on the Secretary of State's office for some more detailed information," says Julie Erfle, a Garcia spokeswoman.

The camp wants to know how many ballots are still outstanding and how many of the ballots that were turned in yesterday have not yet been counted. Based on counts from 2010 and counts from last night, the Garcia camp estimates that there could still be several hundred thousands ballots left to be considered.

The campaign is hoping to have answers from the Secretary of State's office before the end of today.

Garcia, an ASU education professor, was widely endorsed by both sides of the aisle. Douglas ran her campaign on a single platform: stopping Common Core.

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