The tight race in the Democratic Party primary for the District 11 Tompkins County Legislature seat came to a head on election day last Tuesday, but voters had to wait another week before the victor was announced.

After a week of contested absentee ballots, Town of Ithaca Board member and Cornell physics professor emeritus Peter Stein, 77, was declared the winner over 12-year incumbent, Michael Koplinka-Loehr by a margin of six votes.

Last Tuesday the 30-percent voter turnout yielded 289 votes for Stein to Koplinka-Loehr’s 285 and was deemed a race too close to call. While after counting the 39 absentee ballots, Stein’s lead grew by four votes, 302-294, 17 of those ballots were contested by the candidates.

Edward Kopko, an attorney representing Koplinka-Loehr, challenged nine of the absentee ballots, on the grounds that some were sent to the Board of Elections more than 30 days prior to the election and that the signature on some envelopes did not match the voters filed registration signature. Stein’s attorney, William Goodman, objected to eight ballots for similar reasons and additionally cited that two of the disputed ballots were from Koplinka-Loehr’s family members.

“There are still 17 ballots to be counted, so the election is still up in the air,” Stein told The Ithaca Journal last Thursday.

Following yesterday’s recount of the 17 contested ballots, the final total was declared to be 309-303 with Stein on top. Both Stein and Koplinka-Loehr did not challenge the voting results further, and shook hands at the end of the count, according to The Journal.

Stein congratulated Koplinka-Loehr on running a good campaign, and commented on the value of hard-fought campaigns as they brought to light important issues in the community, The Journal reported.

“I think we all owe him a debt of gratitude for his 12 years on the legislature,” Stein added. “I hope I can bring something new and fresh to the legislature.”

He has said that his major goals in office are to mend impacts of the financial crisis on the local community and improve upon cooperation between municipalities.

Koplinka-Loehr also plans to continue actively participating in the community.

“I’m a long-distance runner, and there’s a lot of distance ahead in terms of how I can make a commitment to the community,” he told The Journal. “There’s no dearth of opportunities in Tompkins County. I’m quite confident I will continue to do the public good.”