Orange City Council candidate Charles Ray Thomas will have a recount Thursday hoping to overcome a deficit of 363 votes in his loss to incumbent Paul Burch.
Orange City Secretary Trisha Anderson said Thomas has paid his deposit to cover the costs of the recount.
The Orange County Elections Administration Office will oversee the recount with Elections Administrator Tina Barrow as the coordinator. Anderson said the mayor is supposed to serve as recount supervisor.
However, Mayor Larry Spears Jr. has to work that day. He appointed Anderson to be the recount supervisor.
Thomas ran for the at-large Position 6 against incumbent Burch. Burch had 3,417 votes and Thomas had 3,054 votes, with a total of 6,471 votes cast.
The total was a recent high for a city council election because it was held at the same time as the presidential election, which drew a record number of Orange County voters. Council elections are usually held in May, but Governor Greg Abbott postponed elections until November because of the Covid pandemic.
Thomas ran for mayor in 2018 against Spears, who at the time held the at-large Position 6 seat. Spears got 941 votes and Thomas had 246, with a total of 1,187 votes.
Thomas came in third of four candidates in 2019 for at-large Position 5. Caroline Hennigan won the seat in a runoff.
-Margaret Toal, KOGT-
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