Elrich And Blair In Tight Race For Montgomery County Executive

(Updated at 3:45 p.m.): MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD — The Montgomery County Executive race is too close to call, with Councilmember Marc Elrich leading by only a few hundred votes against Rockville health care executive David Blair.

The votes counted Tuesday night come from votes cast during Early Voting and in the polling places on Election Day. The Montgomery County Board of Elections will have to count absentee and provisional ballots before the race can be called, according to a statement from the board.

There were 14,902 absentee and 3,614 provisional ballots issued this year, the board said. These votes will be counted by bipartisan teams of voters during the weeks to come. These results will then be added to the Election Day totals.

A provisional ballot is "issued to a voter when there is a question regarding the voter's eligibility to vote." Election officials must review the returned provisional ballot envelopes and verify the voter's eligibility to cast his or her ballot before their vote is counted.

The board said provisional ballots are canvassed beginning Thursday, July 5. Remaining absentee ballots returned by the statutory deadline will begin being canvassed on Friday, July 6.

For more information on the canvass process, you can contact Marjorie Roher at 240-777-8625 or margie.roher@montgomerycountymd.gov.

Original Story:

Councilmember Marc Elrich and Rockville health care executive David Blair are neck and neck as of 12:45 a.m.

With 251 out of 255 precincts reported, Elrich leads by 375 votes.

Elrich has 34,163 votes, while Blair has 33,788.

The winner will face Republican candidate Robin Ficker.

“It’s clear the race is not over tonight but I feel that I’m doing pretty darn good going against a guy with $5 million in his campaign,” Elrich said, according to Montgomery Community Media.

"Wow! The race is too close to call tonight," Blair Tweeted. "Thanks to ALL of those who voted in the Montgomery County primary. I’m so grateful to the thousands of you who believed in our vision for the County."

SEE RELATED:

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• Montgomery County Primary Election: Candidates, Polling Places

Patch will update this post as more information becomes available.

(Photo of Blair, Elrich via Montgomery Community Media)