The folks over at Tondee's Tavern are saying that Democrat James Marlow has conceded the race for Georgia's 10th Congressional District. But if you look at the statement they actually link to, Marlow doesn't quite do that. Rather, he says:
We will watch as the final official returns come in, and once all of the votes are in, we will make an assessment about whether further action is appropriate.
That's because state law permits Marlow - who trails Republican Paul Broun by 187 votes in the official count - to seek a recount so long as the margin separating the two is less than 1%. Right now it's 0.4%, but that number is only likely to increase, given that the few outstanding precincts are almost all in counties which favored Broun. And no matter what the final tally, there's no reason to believe a recount could make up the difference.
Ultimately, this is a pretty frustrating outcome, given that two other lesser-known Democrats in the race took 8% between them - more than enough to have put Marlow comfortably in second place. Then again, an overall Dem performance of 28.3% is pretty appalling, given that even John Kerry managed to take 35% in this district. (Of course, in a low-turnout special election, this isn't much of a surprise.) So even if Marlow were to advance to the run-off, it's difficult to envision any way in which he could win. Repeating that Hackett magic is hard.
