A candidate for Arlington City Council candidate who won Saturday's run-off election by just three votes says she's confident she'll be certified the ultimate winner, but it may not be official until after a recount.
Roxanne Thalman, a consultant for GM Financial, said she and supporters watched closely as the returns came in Saturday night.
"At first everyone was cheering, like, 'Yay, we won,'" Thalman said Monday. "And then we looked at how narrow it was and it was like, 'Oh, that's really, really close.' But then everyone started screaming, 'Every vote counts, every vote counts!' That was really exciting. It's a lesson in democracy."
She won Saturday by just three votes out of nearly 2,000 cast.
Thalman was running for District 3, which includes The Highlands and most of southeastern Arlington. Longtime incumbent Robert Rivera did not run for reelection.
Thalman's opponent, air traffic controller Marvin Sutton, declined an interview request but did say he will probably ask for a recount.
That would mean the results won't be official until next Friday, said Tarrant County voting system analyst Paul Benevides.
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He also said overseas mail-in ballots that arrive by Thursday also will be counted. It was unclear how many have not been returned but one arrived on Monday, Benevides said.
Thalman said she is confident she'll win the seat – even if her majority is razor-close.
"I think the big takeaway for me and for a lot of other people I've talked to is every vote counts," Thalman said. "Especially in a city election. This isn't some big national election. This is our city."
