Urbandale Election Recount: Cox Still Wins

A recount of the ballots this morning in Creighton Cox's razor-thin victory over Tony Montgomery for found no change in the totals, said John Chiodo, of the Polk County Election office.

Montgomery asked for the recount and the two candidates and their representatives were present for the 10 a.m. recount today. Chiodo said they recounted most of the votes by running the ballots through counting machines again.

However, two critical precincts, Urbandale 1 and 12, were recounted by hand, he said. Urbandale 12 is Montgomery's Dallas County precinct and Urbandale 1 includes the old downtown Urbandale neighborhood where Montgomery may have had support because of his work with the Urbandale Community Action Network (UCAN).

"It came out exactly the same. Nothing changed," said Chiodo, noting that Cox defeated Montgomery by only three votes. "The machines work, that's what we want."

Montgomery was not immediately available for comment.

"I have a lot to be thankful for this week," Cox said after the recount. He said he's met with the mayor and some of the city councilmen in an effort to start getting up to speed as a council member.

Particularly, he said he believes his initial focus will be on the city's budget as city officials plan for next year's budget over the next few months.

Cox will be sworn in on Dec. 27.