GROVETON – Nine votes separated the two district attorney contenders going into Tuesday’s recount but the final results were not available at press time.
   On election night, March 4, incumbent DA Joe Ned Dean was announced as the winner, defeating challenger Janet Reynolds Cassels by a count of 2,417 votes (50.12%) to 2,405.
   That 12 vote margin was narrowed even more the following day when the ballot resolution board finished examining provisional ballots that had not been counted on election night.
   Those ballots shifted the final count for Dean to 2,418 votes (50.09%) while Cassels increased to 2,409.
   The nine-vote margin in the race is the narrowest recorded in a Trinity County race in recent memory.
   In the 2006 primary election, County Judge Mark Evans was re-elected in another close race over former County Judge Jimmie Thornton.
   The election night count gave Evans a 13-vote margin with a total of 1,585 votes (50.21%) to Thornton’s 1,572.
   A recount in that race cut the margin down to 11 when one vote was shifted from Evans to Thornton.