Primary election results: recanvass finds no significant changes in races for governor and agriculture commissioner

After an extremely tight primary election showing Louisville businessman Matt Bevin defeating Agriculture Commissioner James Comer for the GOP nomination for governor by 83 votes, a recanvass of the results Thursday confirmed Bevin’s win.

The unofficial results on election night showed Bevin with 70,479 votes and 32.91% of the vote compared to Comer’s 70,396 vote total giving him 32.87% of the vote. Because of the narrow gap separating the two candidates, Comer called for the recanvass of the vote.

However, the results of the recanvass conducted Thursday showed no change in the votes, according to Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes. Comer could have requested a recount, a process which must be requested in Franklin Circuit Court and paid for by the candidate. However, in a statement Friday morning, Comer said he called Bevin immediately after hearing the results of the recanvass to concede and congratulate the GOP nominee.

Bevin will face Democratic Attorney General Jack Conway in the gubernatorial general election in November. Conway ran away with his party’s nomination as he garnered 80% of the vote over his primary opponent Geoff Young, a retired engineer from Lexington. To see where Bevin and Conway stand on important business issues, check the Kentucky Chamber’s primary voter guide.

Conway and Bevin will also likely face an independent candidate as Fark.com founder Drew Curtis has declared his desire to run and is collecting the 5,000 signatures needed to appear on the ballot in November.

The Republican race for agriculture commissioner also saw a recanvass Thursday with little change in the votes. State Rep. Ryan Quarles of Georgetown will be the Republican nominee in the race after pulling off a close victory over state Rep. Richard Heath of Mayfield. Quarles will face Democrat Jean Marie Lawson-Spann.

The standings of other down ballot races remain the same. To see who is running in those races, click here.

See all the unofficial results on the secretary of state’s office website. The Kentucky Chamber will continue to follow the races here on our blog.