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Jeremy Parker @astutepanther.bsky.social

Probably a good time to start boning up on the Indiana 8th Recount of 1985. It's been 40 years, but I'm sure there are Republicans who *still* hold a grudge and will bring this up straightaway.

1984 Re-Election and Controversial Recount section from the Wikipedia page of former Rep. Frank McCloskey [edited for length] …Republicans recruited 28-year-old, two-term conservative state Representative Rick McIntyre to challenge McCloskey in 1984. McIntyre hailed from small Lawrence County in the northeastern part of the district, and spent much of the election boosting his profile in the populous Evansville area. […] Ultimately, McCloskey ran up large margins in Evansville and Vanderburgh County. In this election cycle, President Reagan carried the district 60% to 39%. Benefiting from this strong Republican turnout, McIntyre trailed McCloskey by only 72 votes after the initial vote count. A tabulation error in two precincts of one county was found to have resulted in an overcounting of McCloskey votes, and Indiana's Secretary of State (a Republican) quickly certified McIntyre as the winner by 34 votes without checking other counties, even though a recount in another county showed McCloskey with an overall lead of 72 votes. After a recount, McIntyre was up by 418 votes, but more than 4,800 ballots were not recounted for technical reasons. The Democratic-controlled House refused to seat either McIntyre or McCloskey and conducted their own recount. A task force, consisting of two Democrats and one Republican, hired auditors from the U.S. General Accounting Office to do the counting. The recount dragged on for nearly four months, with three Republican-sponsored floor votes to seat McIntyre failing. The task force, per House rules, instructed the auditors to ignore many of the
aug 26, 2025, 3:12 pm • 7 0

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