GOP's Hayes Urges Rival To Concede

CHARLOTTE, Nov. 22 -- Rep. Robin Hayes is calling on his Democratic challenger to give up a fight for a hand recount in the nation's closest U.S. House race.

Hayes's call in his contest against Democrat Larry Kissell came after an unofficial vote count, an official one and a machine recount -- all of which showed Hayes (R-N.C.) leading in the 8th Congressional District by a slim margin.

"We've counted the votes three times now, and each of those three times the numbers have shown Robin Hayes the winner of this election," Hayes spokeswoman Carolyn Hern said after a recount completed Tuesday cut Hayes's lead to 329 votes out of more than 121,000 cast.

But Kissell is pressing ahead with a demand for a hand recount -- something he is entitled to under state law because he trails by less than 1 percentage point.

John Wallace, a lawyer for the Kissell campaign, said he had requested the hand recount, which will be carried out next week in 3 percent of the district's precincts.

"I owe nothing less to the voters of this district than to fight for every vote to be counted regardless of the candidate of their choice," Kissell said in a statement.

A handful of other House races remained unresolved:

-- Ohio, 15th District: Rep. Deborah Pryce, a member of the House Republican leadership, led Mary Jo Kilroy (D) by 3,717 votes Tuesday as provisional ballots were being counted. Results are expected next week.

-- Florida, 13th District: State officials certified Republican Vern Buchanan as the winner over Christine Jennings (D) by 369 votes, or less than 0.02 percent. Jennings has contested the election, arguing that touch-screen voting machines had malfunctioned and asking a judge to order a new election. State officials said Wednesday that they will test voting machines for accuracy.

-- Louisiana, 2nd District: Rep. William Jefferson, the subject of an FBI bribery investigation, will face fellow Democrat Karen Carter in a Dec. 9 runoff.

-- Texas, 23rd District: Rep. Henry Bonilla (R) will face former representative Ciro Rodriguez (D) in a runoff on Dec. 12.