Davis ponders challenge to primary vote

Defeated Rep. David Davis (R-Tenn.) said Monday that he is pushing forward with exploring his options and a potential challenge to last Thursday’s primary loss to upstart Republican Phil Roe.

Davis lost by fewer than 500 votes out of more than 50,000 cast, according to the Tennessee Department of State. There is no process for an automatic recount unless fraud has occurred, but Davis’s campaign believes it can potentially challenge the result by focusing on the influence of outside groups.

{mosads}“Due to such a narrow outcome, we feel that it is very important to take the time to consider whether there may have been any irregularities that may have affected the outcome of this primary election,” Davis said in a statement.

“It has come to our attention that there may have been some outside groups who sought to improperly influence the Republican primary,” he added. “The Republican voters of the 1st congressional district know that this congressional seat is too important to do anything but look at this very closely. My campaign believes we should take an opportunity to explore all of the factual information and options.”

Davis told a local paper that he might challenge some of the primary votes based on the voting history of the people who cast them.

He cited a state law that allows candidates to contest the votes of people who consistently vote in one party’s primary and then switch to another. He has suggested that many of those who voted for his opponent might not have been true Republicans.

Tennessee has an open primary system, allowing voters to cross over at will.

“We just want to make sure we had a fair Republican Primary,” Davis told the Greeneville Sun late Friday afternoon. “Once we find out that we had a fair Republican primary, I will be willing to concede defeat.”

Roe’s campaign did not immediately comment. The Johnson City mayor is a heavy favorite to win Davis’s seat in November.