Yesterday’s special election to fill the 15th state senate seat is still undecided. It is possible that the candidates could be headed for a runoff election, which is scheduled for august 17th. With all precincts reporting, Democrat John Laird trails with 41.23-percent of the vote, while Republican Sam Blakeslee captured 49.71-percent. That puts Blakeslee close to the more-than-50-percent-mark needed to win the seat without a runoff. There are still a number of provisional ballots yet to be counted that will determine whether or not the 3-million dollar august election will be held. Meanwhile, Libertarian candidate Mark Hinkle recorded 2.96-percent of the vote, and Independent Jim Fitzgerald captured 6.1-percent. All 4-cadidates will participate in the run-off, should it be held.
