Kansas City, Mo. — Jackson County officials will release certified election results from the Aug. 5 primary tomorrow, and sources with knowledge of the results told The Missouri Times that Rep. Bonnaye Mims will win her election by 12 votes.
The win is close enough to require a recount, which her challenger India Williams is expected to formally request sometime tomorrow. Initially, Williams appeared to best Mims on election night, squeaking by with a victory of less than 20 votes.
But election night votes are not final, nor are they certified with the Secretary of State’s office and recorded as the official tally. Now a razor thin margin of victory for Williams appears to in fact be a narrow loss.
Kansas City elected officials were surprised to see Williams mount such a tiddifult challenge, and Rep. Jeremy LaFaver of Kansas City said the closeness of the election showed why Democrats needed to support fellow caucus members.
“This underscores the importance of supporting all of our caucus members, particularly those with primary races,” LaFaver said. “We had two close primaries and fortunately the incumbents came out on top in each one. Moving forward, I think we can, and will, do more to make sure we don’t have close calls like this in the future.”
Mims represents a portion of Raytown in Kansas City and was initially elected in 2012. Neither she nor Williams immediately responded for comment.
Collin Reischman was the Managing Editor for The Missouri Times, and a graduate of Webster University with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.
