Simmons/Deely Race One Vote Apart in Lehigh, Hundreds in Northampton

For the rest of the Lehigh Valley, election season is over.

The race between incumbent Justin Simmons (R) and Kevin Deely (D) was too statistically close for election officials certify election night. Currently, Simmons is ahead of Kevin Deely by only one vote in Lehigh County and 430 in Northampton County. 

In Lehigh County, outstanding ballots include 60 provisional ballots, six emergency responders and four ballots where voters didn't provide proper identification and still could.

In Northampton County, outstanding ballots include 16 military ballots and 17 first responders. 

The poll workers and election officials in Lehigh and Northampton counties have worked extremely hard to ensure a fair election," said Simmons' campaign manager. "[Kevin] Deely has every right to ask for a recount; however, the numbers are not going to change. Mr. Deely ran a good campaign, but it's over and time to move forward."

But Deely is standing his ground until all the votes are counted. 

"I'm not going to concede while there are votes still out there," said Deely in a phone interview with Patch. "I don't see why there's such a rush to concede. I don't see why it's such a problem to wait until the votes are counted."

With margins this tight, Deely says he isn't ruling out a recount at this time. 

"We would possibly be interested in doing a recount because we want to see that democracy was served. I want to make sure that each person in the 131st district has a voice." 

Deely says many voters in the 131st district are supportive of a recount.

"The support [after Election Day] has been fantastic. It's so humbling to see how many people out there say 'I'm with you, whatever you need.' People keep coming out of the woodwork."

Some Election Day voters ran into long lines with waits of almost two hours. 

According to an email from Lehigh County election official Tim Benyo, the rest of the military ballots will be counted Wednesday, the final day to receive military personnel ballots.