Girard Likely Won’t Spend the Thousand Bucks for Recount
Will Enter History Books as Two-Time Loser in Mayoral Contests
MANCHESTER, NH — Rich Girard has refined the criteria by which he’ll pursue a recount of Tuesday’s mayoral vote, which show him 128 votes behind runner-up Victoria Sullivan, who shall precede to the election final against Joyce Craig. In a email statement quoted by the Union Leader, Girard said:
“The 1.2% margin between myself and Victoria Sullivan is just outside the margin for a recount. If the official results shrink the margin down to 1% or less, I will ask for a recount.”
This was a qualification that was not part of his statement on his Girard for Mayor Facebook page, which was passed on by Victoria Sullivan supporter Tammy Simmons and others.
A recount would cost Girard $1,000, and he likely is of the opinion, “Why throw good money after bad?”
The last recount of a Queen City mayor’s race, in 2015, showed challenger Joyce Craig gaining 22 votes, 65 shy of an outright victory by Ted Gatsas. That was the general election, with just two candidates, and as the vote threshold was less than 1%, there was no cost accrued by the Craig for Mayor campaign.
Unless he runs again in the future and finally wins, Richard H. Girard will go down in the history books as a two-time loser in mayoral politics. In 1999, Mayor Bob Baines defeated Girard in a landslide, racking up 3,134 more votes.
In 2019, Victoria Sullivan — whose second place finish swept Girard into the dustbin of history — suffered a similar devastating loss at the hands of Mayor Joyce Craig.
