Kevin Onizuk
The recount numbers are in and Republican Kevin Onizuk continues to lead incumbent Democrat Jim Icenhour for the Jamestown seat on the James City County Board of Supervisors.
Election officials gathered Monday with a group of election officers who conducted the recount of the four precincts in the Jamestown District, as well as provisional and absentee ballots cast in the district. The final vote tallies established in November showed Onizuk topping Icenhour 2,677 to 2,647. Onizuk maintained his 30-vote lead in Monday’s recount, where each candidate picked up two votes.
Onizuk is not yet the official winner. That designation must come from a three-judge panel led by York-Poquoson Circuit Court Judge Richard AtLee Jr. A date for the judges to come together and declare a winner has yet to be set.
The recount came at the request of Icenhour, who will have to pay for the recount as the results did not show him winning.
“The recount has confirmed that Mr. Onizuk won the Jamestown District seat on the James City County Board of Supervisors, and I congratulate him on his victory,” Icenhour said in a written statement he provided to WYDaily shortly after the recount concluded. “It has been an honor to serve our community on the Board of Supervisors for the past eight years. I will remain active in the community and continue to facilitate citizen interaction with the various elements of our local government.”
He said the recount was necessary due to “voting irregularities that occurred on Election Day.” He told WYDaily on Nov. 5 that a machine at a Jamestown District precinct was malfunctioning that morning and afternoon. James City County Registrar A.J. Cole said then he was not aware of any major voting machine malfunctions in the county, though minor glitches did occur.
“I am honored to have once again been declared the winner of this contest and am looking forward to representing and serving my Jamestown District neighbors on the Board of Supervisors,” Onizuk said in a news release. “While waiting four weeks to have this victory reaffirmed has been occasionally arduous, I am gratified that today’s recount confirmed the voters’ choice. I am also pleased that the expense of this recount will be borne by the outgoing incumbent and not the taxpayers of James City County.”
Onizuk went on to address the irregularities Icenhour mentioned.
“Since election night, the Officers of Election who ensure the integrity of our process have had to endure unfounded accusations of ‘irregularities.’ None of these accusations were based in fact, and today’s result reaffirms the integrity of our process and confirms the superior work of the scores of James City residents of both parties who ensure our elections are conducted under the highest possible standards. As today’s results demonstrate, they take their work seriously and do it well. They deserve the thanks of all voters and they definitely have mine,” he said.
Following the recount, Onizuk has four more votes than what election officials showed he had on Election Day. Icenhour has five more votes. Because the totals are less than 1 percent apart, Icenhour was permitted to appeal for a recount.
The recount took place in a room on the third floor of the Williamsburg-James City County Courthouse. The work was conducted by two tables of workers. One table counted two precincts and the absentee ballots while the other handled the other two precincts and the provisional ballots. Each table had a counter from the Onizuk campaign and a counter from the Icenhour campaign as well as an observer from each campaign and a coordinator appointed by the three-judge panel.
For Cole, Monday’s recount was the first he has presided over as registrar. The last recount in James City County came in 2005 when Democrat Creigh Deeds challenged the results of the attorney general’s race, which showed Bob McDonnell as the winner. Deeds wound up losing that race to McDonnell. Cole will have to oversee another recount soon due to a challenge of the results of this year’s attorney general’s race by Republican Mark Obenshain.
A few private citizens turned up throughout the day to watch.
Assuming the judges declare Onizuk the winner, he will replace Icenhour on the board in January.
“I look forward to joining my colleagues on the Board in January,” Onizuk said in the release. “In this year’s election, the people of James City County voted for change, and for a return to accountability, in local government. I am pleased that my soon-to-be colleagues have already begun to make the difficult but necessary decisions to ensure that change becomes a reality. They have my support in their efforts.”
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