Karen Pilarski

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Two District 14 Assembly candidates had their political fates flipped by an election snafu. And the final outcome might hinge on a possible recount in Wauwatosa.

At first, the results on election night looked predictable for what has been a long-standing red district.

The original numbers showed Matt Adamczyk, a Republican, winning by 34 votes. However, a discrepancy was discovered. And that gave Robyn Vining, the Democrat, reason for hope.

After the mess was sorted out, Vining was shown to narrowly defeat Adamczyk, the state treasurer, who had decided not to seek re-election to that office, opting to run for the Assembly instead. The new totals swung to show she had actually won by 153 votes.

Now Adamczyk is weighing whether to file for a recount. He is waiting until next week when the Wauwatosa Board of Canvassers certifies the election results, before deciding to file a recount request. As it stands now, the margin is 48.6 percent for Vining to 48.2 percent for Adamczyk.

If the vote stands, Vining would take a seat that has been occupied by Republican Dale Kooyenga for the last eight years. The seat was open with Kooyenga seeking a spot in the state Senate. Kooyenga defeated his Democratic opponent to take over the 5th Senate District, a seat Leah Vukmir (R-Brookfield) previously occupied. Vukmir lost a U.S. Senate race to incumbent Sen. Tammy Baldwin on Nov. 6.

After the polls closed on election, Wauwatosa staff had difficulty transmitting results to Milwaukee County from one polling location for Wards 16 and 17.

City clerk staff and Milwaukee County clerk’s staff then had a telephone conversation and determined Milwaukee County did not have the full transmission of election results. City staff re-transmitted the results. At that time, they verified that the totals matched, according to Carla Ledesma, Wauwatosa city clerk.

Julietta Henry, director of elections for Milwaukee County, said that while preparing for canvassing, Milwaukee staff noticed the error. Henry said the votes from the polling sites and absentee votes weren't added together.

The afternoon of Nov. 7, Wauwatosa received a call from the Milwaukee County Clerk’s office that the Central Count Election results for Wards 16 and 17 were missing. Milwaukee County later verified that all results had been correctly submitted on election night.

The updated and verified totals gave Vining an additional 153 votes more than Adamczyk.

“I’d like to thank all the people who supported me in my election for the 14th district," Adamczyk said. "I’m heartened by all the people who have reached out offering their support as we await the formal result. This new unofficial result discovery is the reason we have a canvass. I will wait until after the official canvass results to announce my decision whether or not I pursue a recount.”

Henry said the numbers are considered unofficial until canvassed.

“It is an incredible honor to be elected to represent the people of the 14th Assembly District,” said Vining. “Yesterday, I promised that I would not stop until every vote was counted. Today, we see the results," Vining said.

RELATED:Voters approve Wauwatosa's $124.9 million referendum to modernize aging schools

Turning blue?

Vining is enthusiastic about the newly elected administration with Democrat Tony Evers and his running mate former state Rep. Mandela Barnes winning the election for governor over incumbent Scott Walker. Former federal prosecutor Josh Kaul declared victory Wednesday over Attorney General Brad Schimel.

The 14th district represents includes portions of the cities of Brookfield, Milwaukee and Wauwatosa.

Vining won in a traditionally Republican district once held by Gov. Scott Walker. It appears the tide is slowly turning blue.

Wauwatosa and Brookfield are shifting more democratic in Vining's opinion. She has also noticed nearby Milwaukee wards are becoming Democratic.

"The Democratic wave is starting out at the lakefront and moving out west slowly," she said.

Vining added how she doesn't like the term "blue wave" as it sounds divisive. It remains important to her to be able to shift the public discourse and treat each other better despite disagreements.

Her main goal is to represent everyone in her district, blue or red, she said.

"I want to change how we talk to each other. We can still hold true to our values, purpose and mission," Vining said.

Next steps

She hopes to make inroads with making health-care high quality and affordable and improving public education. She also hopes to be apart of passing "common sense" gun reform.

Vining is a founding board member of Exploit No More, which works to end child sex trafficking. According to Vining, the Greater Milwaukee region has become known nationally as a hub for sex trafficking, and it’s a problem that occurs in every county in Wisconsin.

Vining and her family moved to the 14th District a decade ago. She has bachelor’s degrees in psychology and fine/studio arts from James Madison University and a master’s degree in religion from Trinity International University.

Vining is a former pastor turned entrepreneur who has spent the past nine years building a successful photography business. She recently launched Folio MKE, a collaborative workspace/community for women entrepreneurs.

She credits the community and volunteers with the success of her campaign.

“I could not have won this race without the support and dedication of my family, friends, and the amazing grassroots volunteers who stood up for change throughout our district.”

RELATED:Election results: Wisconsin fall general election

✔Robyn Vining 16,579 49%

Matt Adamczyk 16,447 48%