UPDATE 11/8 5:35 P.M. ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) – New data released by the Virginia Department of Elections indicates that Joe Cobb is now leading in the race for the City of Roanoke Mayor.
Joe Cobb is in front of David Bowers in the City of Roanoke’s Mayoral election with a lead of 46 votes. He is now leading Bowers from 14,897 to 14,851.
Cobb is now leading by 0.12% which remains to be in the margin for a state-funded recount meaning 1,200 provisional ballots will be counted.
Stephanie Moon rose to 10,002 votes.
Joe Cobb stated that there are many votes still to be counted even though he holds a small lead in the race. The election will be certified by the electoral board on November 15.
Cobb said, “I stand behind the certification process and continue to ask that we all do the same with patience and understanding. Regardless of the outcome, I will respect the decision of the voters and continue working hard for the citizens of Roanoke.”
In a statement given to WFXR News after the release of the new data, Bowers said, “All week long, and even within the last hour while I was shopping at Kroger/Towers, people were coming up to me, they have long memories, encouraging me to hang in there, and that they remember that I was leading 60% to 40% most of the evening 4 years ago, and then the unaccounted ballots came in and Sherman Lea won…..My comment then, and is now, that, hey, I’m a lawyer, and I have no evidence at the present time of any illegality or impropriety, but it sure is fishy!!!…. It sure is fishy!!!”
The Roanoke City Republicans commented on the Mayoral Race saying “We are closely watching the process and we know there are a lot of ballots still to count. We are thrilled to have outperformed expectations so far and we were always confident that David Bowers would do well as a Republican.”
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ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) – As of Friday, Republican David Bowers continues to lead Democrat Joe Cobb by just 11 votes, with an estimated 1,600-plus votes still to be counted.
According to the Roanoke City registrar, all mail-in ballots must have been received by noon on Friday and postmarked on or before November 5.
It is difficult to project who those votes will ultimately fall to but it is important to remember that Independent candidate Stephanie Moon is likely to claim a share of the outstanding ballots as well.
While Bowers claimed an 815-vote win over Cobb on election day, Cobb outperformed Bowers by 167 votes in early voting and by 637 votes in mail-in absentee. That could point to a potential Cobb boost in the estimated 400 mail-in ballots still waiting to be counted.
The 1,223 outstanding provisional ballots are more difficult to attribute, and the registrar estimates those votes will be counted by early next week.
It is estimated that a large portion of those provisional ballots come from same-day voter registration. This was the first presidential election in which same-day registration was legal in Virginia.
As it stands, this race is the closest mayor’s race in Roanoke City since at least 2000.
The closest battle since then came in 2012, when Bowers (running as a Democrat at the time), defeated Republican Mark Lucas by less than 400 votes. However, less than 10,000 votes were cast in that election, according to the Virginia Department of Elections, paling in comparison to 2024’s turnout of 39,788.
The votes cast for mayor have a chance to outperform the top mark since 2000, which is currently held by the 2020 election’s 41,178 votes. In that race, current mayor Sherman Lea defeated Bowers running as an independent by over 2,300 votes.
If Bowers ultimately prevails, he would be the first listed Republican to take the mayor’s seat in Roanoke City since at least 2000. He would be joined in the municipal building by Nick Hagen, who became the first Republican elected to Roanoke City Council since at least 2000.
One Republican, Alvin Nash, has served on council over that span but was appointed in 2008 to fill the remaining term of Alfred Dowe.
Nash’s nephew, Phazhon Nash, and Terry McGuire joined Hagen as the other two candidates elected to city council in a seven-person race.
The potential for two Republicans holding seats in city hall is even more notable for the fact that Roanoke voted Democrat in the Presidential race (by 23 points), Senate race (27 points), and House of Representatives 6th district race (17 points).
Time will tell how the mayor’s race plays out, especially since the final gap will almost certainly fall within the margin for a recount.
Bowers has stated that he is accepting the results as they stand down and has elected not to comment on the prospect of a recount on the advice of legal counsel.
“I accept the results as they currently stand,” he said in a press conference on Wednesday. “I stand before you as the mayor-elect of Roanoke City.”
A statement released by the Roanoke City Republicans said, “We are closely watching the process and we know there are a lot of ballots still to count. We are thrilled to have outperformed expectations so far and we were always confident that David Bowers would do well as a Republican.”
Cobb, on the other hand, has said that he would request a recount if he were to be behind when the final count comes down.
“If it’s in the range, particularly with the number of provisional ballots that are still out, yes, I would request one,” said Cobb. “I’m not going to fight this hard and come this close to not use everything at my disposal just to confirm that the results are the results.”
Cobb has two years remaining on his City Council term that he would still fulfill, even if he ultimately falls in the mayoral race.
To request a recount, the margin must be within 1%. If the margin falls within 0.5%, then the recount is automatically triggered and paid for by the state.
Once the results are certified, the losing candidate has 10 days to petition the local circuit court for a recount.