Every ballot counts: City Council race in Goshen has difference of just one vote

A City Council race in Goshen went down to the wire Tuesday with a difference of just one vote.

Republican Matt Schrock was declared the winner over Democratic challenger Jennifer Shell in the city's 3rd District.

Schrock's win means Republicans will have a 4 to 3 majority in the City Council -- but not all of the votes have been counted.

“It came down to a one-vote race,” said Chris Anderson, county clerk. “248 votes for Matt Schrock, 247 votes for Jennifer Shell and 33 votes for Rafeal Correa.”

The current vote total indicates that Schrock won the race. It also means Republicans hold the majority in Goshen's City Council.

“Right now, the Republican party has a 4 to 3 majority on the council,” said Anderson. “If this were to flip, it would be 4 to 3 the other way.”

Anderson says the outcome in that race could change. There are 28 outstanding provisional votes the county needs to sign off on.

Next Thursday and Friday, the Elkhart County election board and provisional counters will sit down to verify, review and count the 28 provisional ballots that could affect the outcome.

“One vote does make a big difference,” said Schrock. “The importance of, you know, every vote counts. I was just told the night of the election the percentage of people in Goshen that don't vote, and I am not even going to say what the percentage is.”

Deomcrat Shell is very aware of how close the vote is.

“Goshen's District 3 races have been close over the past few years, so this just highlights the importance one vote can have,” said Shell. “Voter turnout in the district has been historically lower, compared to other districts.”

Both candidates are left waiting to see what the final margin of victory will be.