With provisional ballots yet to be counted, Democrats say they’ve won three closest races

With hundreds of provisional ballots left to be counted, the three Democrats leading close races in Doña Ana County believe they have won.

There are 714 provisional ballots yet to be counted in Doña Ana County, and about 100 in Otero County. The election will be certified in Otero County on Thursday, but a final tally in Doña Ana County may wait until next week.

Those in Otero County are relevant to the House District 53 race between Republican incumbent Terry Marquardt and Democratic challenger Nate Cote because 2 of 10 precincts are in that county. In that race, Cote is beating Marquardt by 180 votes.

Cote has 2,631 votes, or 51.8 percent. Marquardt has 2,451 votes, or 48.2 percent.

“Yes, I believe I’ve won this race,” Cote said. “I’m confident that whatever provisional ballots are out there will just give me a larger lead.”

Marquardt is out of town, his secretary said, and could not be reached for comment.

In the House District 37 race, Democrat Jeff Steinborn also believes he has won. Steinborn has 4,798 votes, or 51.55 percent. Republican Scott Witt has 4,501 votes, or 48.55 percent.

That gives Steinborn a 289-vote lead.

“I do believe we’ve won this race, and we’re very excited and ready to go,” Steinborn said. “I really do look forward to serving all the constituents, not just those who voted for me … and doing the right thing and putting partisanship behind us.”

“I think that’s the biggest message from this election,” Steinborn said.

Witt said he’s not conceding the race.

“We’re going to wait and see what happens and let the process work its way through,” he said. “We’ll let it take its course, and we’ll live with whatever the outcome is.”

In the county commission District 1 race, Democrat Oscar Vasquez Butler was declaring victory in his re-election bid. Butler has 4,043 votes, or 52.9 percent. Republican John Zimmerman has 3,600 votes, or 47.1 percent.

Butler has a 443-vote lead.

“It was a tough battle. There was a lot of money that was put into my opponent’s race,” he said. “He really ran a dirty race. It was typical Republican smear.”