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SALT LAKE CITY — The race between an incumbent House representative and a Morgan County commissioner remained razor-thin Friday, the last day the state would update vote counts until next week's canvass.
Only 10 votes separated former House Speaker Mel Brown, R-Coalville, from his challenger, Logan Wilde.
Wilde, who won a 64-vote lead over Brown on primary election night, momentarily fell behind last week when an update put Brown in front by 7 votes. But later that afternoon, Brown fell behind again after another 100 votes were counted.
Earlier this week, Wilde was ahead by 16 votes, but with each update, Brown appears to be inching closer and closer to shutting the gap.
As of Friday, the vote count was 2,490 for Wilde and 2,480 for Brown.
As tight as the House 53 Republican Primary remains, election officials warn it could flip when results are certified during Tuesday's canvass, since some — though few — lingering ballots could be waiting to be tabulated.
Since only 0.2 percent of the vote separate the candidates, either could call for a vote recount if that margin remains or narrows after Tuesday's canvass, since state law allows a recount if the results fall within a 0.25 percent margin.
Whoever wins will advance to face the Democratic candidate, Cole Capener, in November.
