This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Dec. 22, 2008 - Recounts in three tight Missouri legislative races did not change the outcome from what was reported after last month's election, the secretary of state's office said Monday.
In the race for the Missouri Senate from District 1 in south St. Louis city and county, Republican Jim Lembke kept his slim lead over Democrat Joan Barry. The margin before the recount was 76 votes; Lembke lost six votes in the recount but still won the election, 44,216 to 44,146 over Barry. They were vying for the seat being vacated by Sen. Harry Kennedy, D-south St. Louis County, who left because of term limits.
In the race for the Missouri House from District 17 in St. Charles County, Democrat Kenny Biermann lost one vote in the recount, resulting in a 73-vote victory over incumbent Republican Rep. Vicki Schneider, 10,950 to 10,877.
And in the race for the Missouri House from District 121 near Warrensburg in central Missouri, the margin of victory for incumbent Republican Rep. Denny Hoskins went from 129 votes to 122 votes over Democrat Jim Jackson, with a final tally of 7,008 to 6,886.
Missouri state law allows second-place finishers who lost their elections by less than 1 percentage point to request automatic recounts.