Though several news outlets have long ago declared Democratic Rep. Raul Grijalva the winner of Arizona’s District 7 congressional seat, Republican challenger Ruth McClung hasn’t yet conceded.
“It’s taking a while because of Arizona’s early ballot system, but votes are still being counted,” McClung said in a phone interview with The Daily Caller. “With the early ballot system, votes have to be counted by hand. The Associated Press declared that Grijalva won, but I am not conceding.”
McClung is currently down around 9,000 votes. She was told that the winner is supposed to officially be declared on Friday.
“I probably won’t win, looking at the trends and odds, but I just can’t know yet,” McClung told TheDC.
McClung returned to work as a physicist Monday and spoke to TheDC by phone from the parking lot of her office. She has taken this week to thank her supporters, attend meetings, and get back to her hobby of painting.
While she is not yet officially conceding defeat, McClung said that there is a “definite chance” that she will run for political office in the future if she is ultimately declared the loser — as she all but certainly will be.
“I haven’t been burned out yet,” McClung said.