So count me!
Today Martha McSally, the GOP House candidate in AZ-02,
filed a temporary restraining order to block ballot counters from continuing their work in southern Arizona's hotly contested 2nd District, one of the few races still to be called. After a hearing with McSally's lawyer and election officials, Judge James Marner threw out the request, which is good news for Ron Barber, the Democratic incumbent, who trails McSally by only 179 votes tonight. Happily, the gap has been narrowing as the count continues; earlier today Barber trailed by 341.
Approximately 4,000 provisional ballots remain to be tallied from Pima County, although not all of them were cast in AZ-02, Gabby Giffords' former district (perhaps 2/3rds were). All of rural Cochise County has been counted, the conservative chunk of the 2nd District that went big-time for McSally, nearly 60-40. That leaves only Pima County, including Tucson, which leans Democratic. Given the trendlines, Barber is certainly within striking range, although an automatic recount will kick in if either candidate wins by fewer than 200 votes.
This year's race mirrors 2012, when McSally held a slim lead on election night, only to watch it slip away as absentee and provisional ballots were counted. It was more than a week after election day until Barber was declared the winner by about 2,500 votes, or less than 1 percent.
So it's understandable why McSally's team would want to halt the count, as they watch a replay of the 2012 tape. In the temporary restraining order, McSally's lawyer argued that some provisional ballot affidavits were not signed by election workers and should therefore be disqualified. But here's the deal: the state's election manual says the affidavits should be signed by a poll worker, but it specifically states, "a provisional ballot shall not be rejected solely for the lack of signature on the affidavit by polling place election officials." Even Republican Secretary of State Ken Bennett testified at the hearing that the unsigned ballots should be counted.
McSally is a retired Air Force colonel, a combat pilot no less, who fought to defend democracy. Except, I guess, when it inconveniences her.