A town-by-town recount is underway in the Republican state Senate primary for the Plymouth and Barnstable District.
Kari MacRae called for a recount after falling short of state Rep. Mathew Muratore by 45 votes.
Hand counts started this week and will continue over the next few days around the district, which includes four Cape Cod towns — Bourne, Falmouth, Mashpee, and Sandwich — plus the Plymouth County towns of Kingston, Pembroke, Plymouth and Plympton.
In Sandwich, the recount took place Wednesday at the Old Town Hall. Election workers tallied each ballot carefully, with observers from both campaigns in the room.
The executive director of the Massachusetts Republican Party, John Milligan, visited recounts in Sandwich and Plymouth.
“Competitive primaries are a sign of a healthy party,” he said. “We have people joke with us all the time, ‘There's Republicans in Massachusetts? I never would have known.’ And, you know, here we are in a very competitive state Senate district that's an open seat in November.”
Sen. Susan Moran, a Democrat, decided not to seek reelection to the Senate and instead run for Barnstable County clerk of courts.
Chris Lane, a volunteer with the Muratore campaign, watched the Sandwich recount from the back of the room.
“Recounts are super important to the Democratic process, making sure that people feel that every vote was counted,” he said.
In Sandwich, MacRae gained one vote previously counted as blank.
If Muratore secures the nomination, the general election will pit two sitting state representatives — Muratore and Rep. Dylan Fernandes, a Democrat — against one another.
Republicans have high hopes of taking back the seat, which GOP Sen. Vinny deMacedo occupied before Moran was elected four years ago.
