Outcome Uncertain in Eight House Races
    The Associated Press

    Friday 10 November 2006

    Washington - Eight House races remain without winners after Tuesday's election, with Republican incumbents in tight contests to keep their seats and state officials not rushing to end the dispute.

    Rep. Deborah Pryce, a member of the House Republican leadership, is ahead in her central Ohio race by 3,536 votes. In the Columbus, Ohio-area, elections officials are delaying the count of more than 9,000 provisional ballots by one day so it doesn't disrupt the much-vaunted Ohio State-Michigan football game on Nov. 18.

    Elections officials in that district will start counting Nov. 19.

    Ohio Republican Rep. Jean Schmidt, who called Democratic Rep. John Murtha a coward, is ahead of her challenger by 2,862 votes. Rep. Barbara Cubin, who threatened to slap her wheelchair-bound Libertarian opponent after a debate, is ahead by fewer than a thousand votes in her Wyoming contest.

    Of the eight uncalled races, only one - Joe Courtney's challenge to Republican Rep. Rob Simmons in Connecticut - gives a Democratic challenger the lead. In that race, Courtney is ahead by a scant 166 votes. Almost a quarter of a million votes were cast.

    A Thursday recount in Hebron, Conn., gave Simmons one more vote. Recounts were scheduled in 65 other towns through the weekend.

    In Georgia, first-term Democratic Rep. John Barrow, facing a rematch against former Republican Rep. Max Burns, leads by fewer than 600 votes.

    In Washington state, the results in a historically slow-counting suburban Seattle district showed incumbent Republican Rep. Dave Reichert ahead of challenger Darcy Burner three days after poll-based voting ended. The vast majority of voters cast ballots by mail and they count as long as they were postmarked by Tuesday.

    Heavy flooding in the district also forced the relocation of two polling places on Election Day.

    Other races that remain undecided include North Carolina Rep. Robin Hayes' campaign against Larry Kissell, separated by 449 votes; and New Mexico Rep. Heather Wilson's race, where Democrat Patricia Madrid trails by about 1,600 votes.

    A runoff was scheduled in Louisiana between two Democrats - incumbent Rep. William Jefferson and Karen Carter - on Dec. 9. In Texas, Republican Rep. Henry Bonilla will face former Democratic Rep. Ciro Rodriguez in a yet-unscheduled runoff.

    In Florida, a recount is set to begin Wednesday in Rep. Katherine Harris' former district. Republican Vern Buchanan has a 373-vote lead and has declared victory over Democrat Christine Jennings. The Associated Press has declared Buchanan the winner.