Candidates Squeak By With Victory in Recount of Benton Harbor Election Results

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benton harbor recount james atterberry wilce cooke mayor city commissioner at large

Berrien County officials recounted the votes Friday, Nov. 16, 2007, for two Benton Harbor races: mayor and city commissioner-at-large. (WSBT photo)

By Beth Boehne

Story Created: Nov 16, 2007 at 1:25 PM EST

Story Updated: Nov 16, 2007 at 6:30 PM EST

(WSBT) Election Day was more than a week ago, but Campaign '07 finally ended Friday for candidates in two Benton Harbor races. Berrien County officials recounted the votes for mayor and city commissioner-at-large.

James Atterberry called for a recount after he lost the mayor's race to incumbent Wilce Cooke by just six votes.

Officials were only able to recount two of Benton Harbor's four wards.

They were not able to recount the 1st ward because the number of signatures — 418 — did not match the number of ballots cast — 416. Likewise the number of signatures did not match the number of ballots cast in the 4th ward.

The recount of the 2nd ward produced no changes to the vote breakdown.

Cooke won the 3rd ward by an overwhelming margin over James Atterberry. The recount of that ward took one of those votes away from Cook.

So the final certified results show that Cooke defeated Atterberry by five votes — one vote less than the original count indicated.

Officials also recounted the race for city commissioner-at-large.

Four candidates ran for two seats in that race.

The candidate with the least amount of votes — Glenn Yarbrough — was out of the race.

The initial count showed David Shaw as the clear winner in that race, with 614 votes. The recount showed he gained a vote in one ward and lost two votes in another, giving him a final total of 613 votes.

The difference between the candidate with the second highest number of votes — Bryan Joseph — and the candidate with the third highest number of votes — Ruthie McCoy Haralson — was only three votes.

Joseph lost two votes in the recount, while Haralson's vote total remained the same. That means that Bryan Joseph edged Ruthie McCoy Haralson by only one vote to win the second seat for city commissioner-at-large.

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