Lawrence declares victory over Hobbs despite confusion over vote totals (MI-14)

Source: Detroit Free Press

Shortly before 1 a.m., Southfield Mayor Brenda Lawrence gave a passionate victory speech in her second try for the 14th Congressional District seat.

“There are some people in this room who were with me two years ago, when the path was laid for me to win this race tonight,” she said. “I’m going to fight, to make sure that all the voices in the district and that everyone has a seat at the table.”

State Rep. Rudy Hobbs, D-Southfield, had called to concede the race, according to Lawrence’s campaign. But discrepancies remain because city and county clerk vote totals apparently were different than the totals reported used by the Associated Press. The AP reported that Hobbs won the race by 240 votes, with 100% of precincts reporting. But Lawrence’s campaign disputed those numbers and declared victory.

Shortly before 2 a.m., the AP changed its vote totals for the race, reporting that Lawrence was now leading by 2,493 votes — again, with 100% of the precincts reporting. It was unclear what caused the vote total discrepancies early Wednesday.

Read more: http://www.freep.com/article/20140805/NEWS06/308050235/14th-Congress-Clarke-Lawrence-Hobbs