Results the same after House District 28 vote recount

CLARKESVILLE, Ga. (FOX 5 Atlanta) - The recount in the hotly contested House District 28 race is over.

Challenger Chris Erwin's two-vote margin of victory in the recent special primary election still stands.

But, his opponent, three-term incumbent Dan Gassaway, has a lawyer and isn't throwing in the towel yet.

It's complicated in North Georgia. Gasaway lost the first primary but sued and convinced a judge to do it over. He lost again, by two votes. Close enough, he said, for a recount.

We watched as elections officials conducted the recount in Habersham County. Similar recounts were taking place in Stephens and Banks County. House District 28 stretches across all three counties.

This is not Dan Gasaway’s first election rodeo. Back in September Gasaway and his attorney, Jake Evans, convinced a judge to throw out the first House District 28 election results. 

Gasaway lost that Republican primary by 67 votes to Chris Erwin. There was no Democrat in the race.  Using the county's own election official’s testimony and detailed sophisticated mapping, attorney Jake Evans convinced the judge at least 70 people voted in the wrong districts.

The judge ordered a new primary election to be held in December, and once again Gasaway lost. This time by two votes. Gasaway asked for a recount and the Secretary of State ordered one. 

It took less than a half an hour to count the votes.  The results were exactly the same.

“Good news, we’re over one hurdle, on to the next,” said Erwin’s wife, Laurie.

“Anybody that runs for office should care if their results are correct, whether you win or lose, and you know if you lose, you want to know you lost honestly.  And, if you win, you should want to know that you won honestly,” said Gasaway.

Earlier this week, Gasaway questioned whether some people voted illegally. He has a lawyer and wouldn’t say whether his next step is going back to court or going home.