Greg Vital has conceded the District 10 state Senate Republican primary to Todd Gardenhire.
The decision came after Vital mulled over the possibility of asking for a recount.
“Although it was a very close race, the election is over,” Vital said in a statement.
At different times, unofficial vote counts had the margin as 15 and 40 votes out of about 16,000 cast in Bradley and Hamilton counties. A few provisional ballots were added to the total Monday, but they weren’t expected to change the outcome of the race.
Gardenhire will face District 10 Democratic candidate Andrae McGary in the Nov. 6 general election.
For complete details, see tomorrow's Chattanooga Times Free Press.
Chris Carroll covers federal politics for the Times Free Press. A Chattanooga native, he went to Red Bank High School and graduated with honors from East Tennessee State University. Chris investigated violent crime, municipal government and hospitals before taking the political beat. For tornado coverage, he and Pam Sohn won a first-place Tennessee Associated Press Managing Editors deadline reporting award. In 2010, Chris won the Golden Press Card Award of Merit and another deadline reporting ...