Recently completed recounts in three state legislative races didn’t result in any changes to the election night winners.
In the closest race, Republican state Rep. David Adkins kept his Bernalillo County seat by defeating Democrat Ronnie Martinez by just nine votes.
This is the closest legislative race since 2012, when Las Cruces Republican Terry McMillan defeated Joanne Ferrary by eight votes. Ferrary lost again to McMillan in 2014 before defeating him in this November’s election.
The other House race close enough for an automatic recount saw Democrat Daymon Ely defeating Republican incumbent Paul Pacheco by 105 votes.
The lone Senate recount had Democratic incumbent John Sapien survive another close election, this time defeating Republican incumbent Diego Espinoza by 190 votes.
The recounts took place late last week.
With Sapien’s victory, the only Democratic incumbent to lose their seat this year in the Senate was Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez. Peter Wirth of Santa Fe will be the new majority leader.
The final results show a 38-32 advantage by state Democrats in the House of Representatives and a 25-17 advantage in the Senate.
The three races had the top two candidates within one percent in the final results, which prompted the automatic recount, paid for by the state. Candidates whose races are outside the one percent level can seek their own recount, but must pay for the costs of the recount.
