Madison Common Council race split by one vote, recount expected

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - A Madison Common Council race is split by one vote, keeping one district and its candidates on their toes.

The Madison Common Council District 14 election is split by one vote and a recount is expected, according to city officials. Noah Lieberman received 1,384 votes Tuesday and is facing former alder Isadore Knox, Jr, who received 1,383 votes.

Lieberman said he has been in some close elections before, but nothing could have prepared him for Tuesday.

“The primary for this race in February, I only made it out of that primary by six votes. In 2016 when I was still a college student in North Carolina I ran for the State House and lost a primary there by 13 votes,” he said. “I kind of knew what to anticipate the night of which is you know, just being at home with family, trying to have as calm as an environment as you can. But truly I could never have expected this.”

At 4 p.m. Friday the votes were officially canvassed and it is to be determined whether a recount will happen. City of Madison Deputy Clerk Jim Verbick said a recount at the municipal level isn’t common.

“I’ve been in this job for almost seven years and it’s the first time that we’ve gotten close to a municipal recount,” Verbick said. “We’ve obviously had a presidential recount in my time here, but not in my time have we had a municipal recount. But yeah, two votes is pretty close.”

Knox confirmed with NBC15 that he will be requesting a recount if no changes result from the canvass. Verbick said the recount would happen next week.

At 7:49 p.m. on Friday, the Madison City Clerk tweeted the results of the canvass. Lieberman stands at 1,384 and Knox has 1,383. The first count had Knox at 1,382 votes.

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