Koh ‘Reviewing Process for a Recount’ as Trahan Claims Victory at Press Conference

File photograph. (Image licensed by Ingram Image.)

The 2018 congressional primary race between Lori Trahan and Dan Koh continued overnight Tuesday, Sept. 4 and into Wednesday, Sept. 5 as the 3rd District awaited a winner. (File photograph)

With nearly all precincts reporting results to the Associated Press as of 11 a.m., Marty Meehan’s former aide Lori Trahan has a 52-vote lead over Andover’s Dan Koh in the Democratic primary race to succeed Niki Tsongas.

As Westford’s Trahan told supporters at a noon press conference in Lowell that she was “confident I am the Democratic nominee,” Koh’s campaign said the candidate is “reviewing the process for a recount” to make sure all ballots are properly counted.

Dan Koh

“Given the closeness of the results. . . with 85,000 votes cast and only a handful of votes separating the top two finishers—and the fact that all ballots, including possibly hundreds of provisional ballots, have not been counted, it’s clear that the final outcome of the election will not be known for a few days,” Koh’s campaign said in a Wednesday morning statement.

Reached by WHAV News Wednesday, Assistant City Clerk Laura Angus confirmed that 22 percent of Haverhill’s registered voters turned in primary ballots.

Secretary of State William Galvin has impounded the 3rd District’s votes to “ensure accuracy,” Koh’s team said.

Lori Trahan

As of just after 11 a.m., Trahan and Koh were followed by Juana Matias and Rufus Gifford, who earned 15.2 and 15.1 percent of the vote respectively. Sen. Barbara L’Italien bowed out of the race late Tuesday night, vowing to support whichever Democrat earns top honors.

Koh, too, is applauding his colleagues across the Merrimack Valley in a hard-fought primary.

“He is proud to have been part of a group of Democratic candidates in the 3rd who campaigned so hard to make a real difference in this country and if — at the end of this process — Lori is declared the winner, Dan will offer his enthusiastic support for her in the general election,” his campaign said.

In the meantime, Trahan is forging ahead with her eyes on the November election. “There are only 62 days until the general election and we cannot wait one day more to start this campaign,” she told supporters Wednesday. “I am eager to highlight my vision for how we need to change Washington and get government back on the side of working people.”

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