GOP's Tim Kline and Democratic Sen. Joey Pendleton request recanvassing in races

The two candidates who came up short by the slimmest margins in Tuesday’s elections have requested recanvasses to double-check the vote totals in their districts, the Secretary of State’s office confirmed Thursday.

Tim Kline, a Republican from Daviess County, appears to have fallen five votes short in his bid to unseat Democratic Rep. John Arnold of Sturgis in the 7th House District. Arnold, who won Union County precincts handily but lost Henderson and Daviess counties, received 7,890 votes to 7,885 for Kline.

Elsewhere in western Kentucky, Democratic state Sen. Joey Pendleton of Hopkinsville, has asked for a recanvassing in the 3rd state Senate District that covers Christian, Logan and Todd counties. The unofficial vote totals show that Pendleton, who has represented the district for 20 years, lost to Republican Whitney Westerfield by 297 votes out of more than 36,000 cast (18,457 to 18,160).

Those two races had the slimmest margins: 50.02% to 49.98% in the 7th House and 50.41% to 49.59% in the 3rd Senate District.

A recanvass involved double-checking the math and totals from the precincts. Candidates can later request a more extensive recount but are responsible for paying the costs.