The comeback is complete.
Down by as many as 536 votes on primary election night, Stuart Stavig of Marysville looked out of the running in the race for county assessor.
But as absentee ballots were counted, Everett’s Kent Hanson saw his lead dwindle to 13.
Then, as special ballots and late-arriving absentees were counted, Stavig took the lead by six.
That forced a mandatory hand recount, as the race was so close.
When the votes were tallied Tuesday, Stavig picked up three more votes to beat Hanson by nine, 23,031 to 23,022.
Cindy Portmann of Snohomish got the most votes in the race, so she will now face Stavig in the Nov. 4 general election. Portmann captured 48 percent of the vote.
Stavig had never run for public office.
County elections manager Carolyn Diepenbrock said Wednesday that 36 people worked most of the day on the recount.
She said the candidates have three days to ask for an additional hand count but it would cost 25 cents per ballot.
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