EAST MOLINE, Ill. — The Associated Press on Thursday declared incumbent Democrat Cheri Bustos has been re-elected to Illinois’ 17th Congressional district, but her Republican opponent, Esther Joy King, said she did not plan to concede.
In a news release on Thursday, the Esther for Congress campaign said, “in consideration of absentee vote by mail ballots still unaccounted for and other unexplained anomalies in the election returns, a concession at this point is premature.”
King spoke about her campaign with WMBD News on Tuesday night.
“I’m so proud of my team, I’m proud of the work we’ve done. And, we’ve left it all out on the field, and in the hands of voters,” King said.
Bustos claimed victory on Election Night before all votes were counted.
“There’s going to be ups and downs in this process, but we are watching the numbers closely. My team is doing an incredible job,” King said Tuesday night.
King’s campaign stresses the need for counting all ballots, including mail-in and military votes, before a winner can be declared.
“There are also some serious procedural questions about ballot security and access to data in a number of jurisdictions. As an example, it was at least an hour after Rock Island announced that the votes were counted and kicked everyone out of the clerk’s office before they posted the results to their website, which created a ten thousand vote swing,” said Brady Smith, Ester for Congress data director.
King’s campaign added, “When it is appropriate — and that time is when all the votes are counted — Ester will respond accordingly.”
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