Seel jumps to 2nd place; avoids recount

Carl Seel

Rep. Carl Seel secured a Republican nomination and avoided a recount in the tightly contested Legislative District 6 House race.

Only 37 votes separated Seel and his GOP running-mate David Fitzgerald III. That was enough to avoid a recount, as the trigger for one would have been 14 votes, according to the Secretary of State.

“Oh my God, what a rollercoaster,” Seel said.

All ballots were counted as of Aug. 31 and a canvass is scheduled for Sept. 7, according to the Secretary of State.

Amanda Reeve got the most votes in the GOP race, leading Seel by 298 votes.

Seel and Fitzgerald ran as a team with Senate candidate Lori Klein, who also won the nomination.

“It’s a pretty humbling experience to come this far,” Fitzgerald said. “No one likes it to end this way.”

Seel said he was limited in his spending after the U.S. Supreme Court prohibited matching funds for Clean Elections candidates.

Reeve ran a privately funded campaign and outspent him by double and received some independent expenditures.
“I was over a barrel politically,” Seel said.

The GOP winners will face Democrat Teri Conrad in the Nov. 2 general election. Conrad was thumped by Seel and Sam Crump in the 2008 election.

Republicans hold an overwhelming number of registered voters in the district, which is in Phoenix, north of Thunderbird Road and mostly between 51st Avenue and 16th Street.