News : District 42 Race won by Two Votes - But the Race goes to Another

After all of the votes were counted in the Primary Election on June 7, Colman Silbernagel won the election on the Republican ticket in District 42 by only two votes beating out Charlie McClintock.

As expected, McClintock requested a recount of all the ballots. Recounts were held in both Linn and Benton County which the district covers.

Upon recounting the ballots, McClintock gained three votes in each of Benton and Linn County putting him ahead by four votes. Silbernagel picked up two votes in Benton County cutting the lead again by only two votes.

So, the headline remains the same. District 42 on the Republican ticket was won by only two votes," however, the final winner is Charlie McClintock of Cedar Rapids.

Silbernagel released a statement graciously congratulating his opponent on his nomination for the seat, adding, "while the results weren't what we wanted, I am very confident in the security of Iowa's elections. Five of the six votes that were added to our totals were ballots the machines had originally counted as undervotes. On these five ballots, the voter hadn't filled in the circles but had instead used small checks or small x's (Iowa law says to count them so long as the voter consistently uses the same mark). The total number of ballots cast in each precinct remained the same." He thanked both the Linn and Benton County Auditors for the work they've done on the recount.
McClintock also wished to thank the auditors in both counties. "I would like to thank all the members of the Benton and Linn counties Auditors office for the prompt and efficient processing of the recount process. Iowa prides itself on its election integrity and accuracy, and this process verified how reliable our electoral system truly performs.
The election recount teams were selected fairly and according to the rules set forth by the Iowa election laws. I want to thank every member of each of the recount teams in Linn and Benton counties for performing this civic duty and ensuring our elections are fair and accurate. The recount in Linn county took place on Monday, June 20th, 2022 and took approximately 14 hours to complete. The recount in Benton county took place on Wednesday, June 22 th, 2022 and took approximately 7 hours to complete.
Colman Silbernagel ran a very energetic and professional campaign and should be applauded for his efforts. This was a very close contest that could have gone either way. He has a tremendous amount of passion for serving the people, and the people really like him. I don't think we have seen the last of Colman, nor should we, in the political arena.
I look forward to serving all the people in Benton and Linn counties and spending as much time as possible in both counties this summer now that session is complete."