No Change To Arkansas House District 56 Results After Recount

By Tess Vrbin, Arkansas Advocate, Arkansas Advocate

- November 21, 2022

State Rep. Steve Magie (D-Conway) won a sixth term in the Arkansas Legislature after a recount in House District 56 yielded the same 10-vote victory he had after the first count.

Rep. Steve Magie (D-Conway)

The district is entirely within Faulkner County, and the recount started Friday and ended Saturday. Magie received 4,051 votes while Republican Trent Minner, who requested the recount, received 4,041. Libertarian Howard Heffington received 274 votes.

Minner conceded via Facebook Saturday night and said he had spoken to Magie and congratulated him. He also commended the Faulkner County Election Commission and the county clerk’s office for conducting the recount with “transparency and speed.”

“Arkansans can be proud knowing that every lawful vote was counted, every voice was heard, and that we are all blessed to live in a country with free and fair elections,” Minner said in his statement.

The Faulkner County Election Commission will certify the results today.

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— Brady Shiers (@BradyShiers) November 20, 2022

The recount was one reason House Republicans postponed a meeting to assign committee seats last week. House District 62 in the Arkansas Delta will also receive a recount today at Democratic candidate Dexter Miller’s request. Miller resides in Phillips County, where the election commission has been struggling to upload its vote totals to the Secretary of State’s website.

State Rep. Mark McElroy (R-Tillar), an incumbent who lives in the Desha County portion of District 62, was ahead by 218 votes after the first count, with the exception of provisional ballots.

Miller said Friday that he thought something was amiss about the results overall and hopes a recount will assure him that the final numbers are accurate.

The Arkansas Advocate is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to tough, fair daily reporting and investigative journalism that holds public officials accountable and focuses on the relationship between the lives of Arkansans and public policy. This service is free to readers and other news outlets.