McIntyre Wins N.C. House Race After Recount

Republican nominee David Rouzer has conceded to Rep. Mike McIntyre, D-N.C., resolving the last disputed House race from Election Day after a recount barely affected McIntyre’s slim margin.

“Now that the recount has been completed and the tally of votes is official, we can move forward satisfied that each vote was counted properly and accurately,” Rouzer said in a statement Wednesday night. “I have called Congressman McIntyre to congratulate him on a hard-fought victory, and I wish him well as he joins a new Congress that will be dealing with very difficult issues facing our country.”

McIntyre had a 655-vote lead after the initial tally in North Carolina’s 7th District. After Rouzer, a state senator, requested the recount, McIntyre’s lead slipped one vote to 654 out of over 336,000 cast, a 0.2 percentage point margin.

McIntyre will rejoin Congress for a ninth term in January, but political survival this year won’t make his life any easier going forward. Republicans will continue to target McIntyre and his conservative-leaning district in upcoming cycles. The seat gave nearly 58 percent of its presidential vote to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in 2008 and likely exceeded that for Mitt Romney this year. But McIntyre just overcame that partisan headwind with a campaign that emphasized his conservatism and won grudging admiration from Republican strategists.

McIntyre's victory will give Democrats 201 House members in 2013 for a net gain of eight seats.


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