Cincinnati council member Laure Quinlivan told the Hamilton County Board of Elections this morning not to conduct a recount of the 859-vote difference between her and Republican Amy Murray.
Quinlivan, a Democrat who finished 10th and out of the running for one of nine council seats, was entitled to a recount because the difference between her and Murray was less than one-half of one percent.
“My preference is to save the time, effort and taxpayer money that would be involved in a recount overwhelmingly unlikely to change the outcome of the election,’’ Quinlivan said in a written statement. “The cost to pay elections staff overtime to conduct the recount would approach $60,000.”
That means that Murray, a Republican, will be sworn in as a new council member on Sunday, along with her eight colleagues and mayor-elect John Cranley.
Murray, like Cranley, is an opponent of going forward with the streetcar project.
Quinlivan said she will continue to advocate for the streetcar project as “a citizen activist.” Quinlivan was first elected to council in 2009.
