The book is officially closed on the highly-contested runoff to be the Republican nominee in the race for Denton County Commissioner Precinct 4.
After election night ended Tuesday night, candidate David Wylie was leading the race by just 31 ballots, which wasn’t enough to convince candidate Valerie Roehrs to concede.
However, her attitude changed by Saturday morning, when she officially conceded the race to Wylie.
“After spending the past several days working closely with the Denton County Elections Administration to fully understand the status of all outstanding ballots—including military, overseas, provisional and ballots requiring cure—I have reached a difficult but important decision,” said Roehrs in a post to social media. “Following Friday’s updated totals, and after a thorough review of the ballots that could still potentially be received by Monday’s deadline, it has become clear that there is no remaining path to change the outcome of this race.”
As of Monday morning, Wylie continues to lead the race by 33 votes with a total of 8,915 compared to Roehrs’ 8,882.
With the vote totals still very close, Roehrs said many of her supporters encouraged her to pursue a recount, but she believes it is best not to do so.
“I have decided not to seek a recount. At this point, the most responsible and unifying step forward—for our party and our county—is to accept the final outcome and turn our focus to the future,” she said. “One thing I am especially proud of is the way we ran this campaign.”
With Roehrs’ concession, Wylie will officially be the Republican name on the ballot come the Nov. 3 General Election. He will face off against Democrat Stephanie Draper.
The winner will succeed Dianne Edmondson, who will officially transfer her seat on Denton County Commissioners Court on Dec. 31.
Despite the concession, Roehrs said she remains committed to serving the community outside of elected office.
“Election integrity is preserved when every legal vote is counted, and today I am confident that this process has run its course,” she said. “Although this race has come to an end, my commitment to serving our community has not. There is more to be done, and I intend to stay involved, stay accessible and stay focused on solutions that strengthen our community.”
