ROANOKE, VA – “19 angels carried me across the threshold to victory,” projected winner of the Roanoke Mayoral race David Bowers said.
19 votes. That’s all the Roanoke City mayoral race came down to Tuesday night.
David Bowers, the projected winner, declared victory over Vice-Mayor Joe Cobb.
“I stand here before you today as the mayor-elect of Roanoke,” Bowers said.
“What do you make of that?” 10 News Anchor Abbie Coleman asked Cobb.
“Well he can call himself whatever he wants, but the vote is not final,” Cobb said.
The results are a stark contrast from a Roanoke College poll showing Cobb with a 24-point lead just last week.
“I knew that it would be a close race with three people running. I didn’t know that it would be this close,” Cobb said.
That distance is now down to just 11 votes, with more being counted. But Cobb isn’t conceding.
“They’re continuing to count hundreds of ballots. And I support the process that does that. We have a very secure system,” Cobb said.
We reached out to Roanoke Registrar Nicholas Ocampo who tells us:
But when 10 News asked Bowers about those 1,200 uncounted votes - he doubled down on his declaration.
“The votes have been reported,” Bowers said.
“But what about the 1200 votes that have not been counted,” Coleman asked.
“Then who is the mayor-elect of Roanoke?” Bowers said.
For now - neither candidate is backing down.
Bowers tells us he has gotten legal counsel.
“Lawyers have been engaged. Or are in the process of being engaged,” Bowers said.
And while we won’t know if a recount is necessary until the last vote has been counted, it’s already on Cobb’s mind.
“If it certainly continues to be 19 or less or somewhere in that vicinity, I would support a recount,” Cobb said.
