Lehan, Damon decline to concede citing ballot-tampering investigation

Kari Chisholm

Charlotte Lehan and Jamie Damon continue to trail their Tea Party -backed opponents, John Ludlow and Tootie Smith, in the Clackamas County Commission races.

Both sent out emails this morning to supporters expressing their gratitude and sharing the vote-count update. Each also declined to concede, citing the ongoing investigation.

Here's part of Lehan's statement:

However, you are no doubt aware a Clackamas County elections employee is currently under investigation by the state Department of Justice for alleged ballot tampering and it's been reported she was marking ballots for my opponent. If these allegations turn out to be true it will be an unprecedented breach of trust and could call into question the integrity and validity of this election.

Because of this I have been advised by legal counsel to hold off making any decision in this race until the Department of Justice investigation is complete. At that time we will assess the outcome of the investigation.

This fight is surely not over. But here's the deal, folks: The campaign is over, but Lehan and Damon surely are going to have big legal expenses as part of this effort - especially if the investigation makes it clear that tampering affected the outcome. Donate to Charlotte Lehan's campaign here. Donate to Jamie Damon's campaign here.

By Kari Chisholm Nov. 08, 2012