Johnson concedes to incumbent Smith in Knoxville
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Democratic challenger Gloria Johnson has conceded to incumbent state Rep. Eddie Smith in their close race in Knoxville.
The Knoxville News Sentinel reports (http://bit.ly/2fcGhK0 ) that Johnson decided to stop fighting the 154-vote result after finding out that there weren’t enough provisional ballots cast to change the outcome of the race.
Voters who don’t have proper identification can vote provisionally and then return with their IDs within 48 hours to have their ballots counted.
Johnson had sought the quick release of 597 names of people who cast provisional ballots in the entire county. But it turned out that only 86 provisional votes were cast in her district.
The close race was a rematch of two years ago, when Smith defeated Johnson, who was then the incumbent, by 182 votes.
