Thune won't challenge S. Dakota vote count

WASHINGTON, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- Rep. John Thune, who was selected by President George W. Bush to challenge incumbent South Dakota Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson, said Wednesday he will not seek a recount of the votes despite his view there were irregularities in the election.

The South Dakota Secretary of State's office Tuesday certified Johnson the winner by just 524 votes out of more than 330,000 cast. Johnson will begin his second term as senator when the 108th Congress convenes in January.

Thune said he decided against seeking a recount because the process is "unlikely to change the outcome" despite numerous irregularities "I know occurred.

"Are there questions that need to be answered about the outcome of this election? I believe there are. Did things happen that shouldn't have in some polling places around the state? I believe they did. Some of these issues would be resolved through a recount. However, others, though unethical, would not be righted through a recount," Thune said.

"Therefore I see no reason to subject the people of South Dakota to a long, drawn-out, painful and protracted struggle over 524 votes. I would rather use my influence to bring the state together than tear it apart," he argued.

Republican sources in Washington told United Press International's Peter Roff that some in the party are suggesting Thune conceded the race over the objections of party leaders in Washington. There are others who claim he got out because these same party leaders do not want to start off the first period of Republican leadership on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue in 40 years with a nasty "sore loser" fight over South Dakota.

Several senior Republican operatives familiar with the situation told Roff, since the re-canvass did not produce numbers different from the initial count, the only option left was to pursue the idea that Johnson won because of voter fraud -- meaning people who were not supposed to vote but did.

This is not a fight the national GOP wants to make, Roff was told, because of the national public relations implications.

These sources, who asked not to be quoted by name, told Roff that Thune, who will likely run against Sen. Tom Daschle in two years' time, would rather not contest the vote, fearing he could end up like Maryland's Ellen Sauerbrey and Louisiana's Woody Jenkins -- two Republican politicians who claimed their careers in elective office were destroyed because they fought back against voter fraud.

Thune, who was talked out of running for governor by Bush, thanked his supporters and said the "stunning victories by Republican candidates across the country shows our work was not in vain.

"The campaign was right. The cause was just. We just came up a little short this time," Thune said.

Bush made numerous campaign appearances for Thune and the congressman held a healthy 3,000-vote lead going into the wee hours last Wednesday morning.

That lead was wiped out by an unexpectedly high turnout among residents of the state's Indian reservations, which voted heavily Democratic.