DeKalb County recount solidifies Senate minority leader’s primary win

DeKalb County elections officials said a recount confirmed the results of the race for Senate District 41. Senate Minority Leader Steve Henson, D-Stone Mountain, edged out his opponent Sabrina McKenzie in last month’s Democratic primary. Courtesy photos.

DeKalb County elections officials said a recount confirmed the results of the race for Senate District 41. Senate Minority Leader Steve Henson, D-Stone Mountain, edged out his opponent Sabrina McKenzie in last month’s Democratic primary. Courtesy photos.

The results of last month’s Democratic primary for the 41st Senate District did not change after the woman challenging the chamber’s minority leader requested a recount.

The DeKalb County Board of Registration and Elections on Wednesday confirmed the vote totals from the May 22 election showing state Senate Minority Leader Steve Henson the winner.

No Republican is running in the district, so Henson will automatically win the November election.

According to the final results in DeKalb, Henson received 52.43 percent of the vote and his opponent, Sabrina McKenzie, received 47.57 percent. McKenzie requested the recount.

The district also includes portions of Gwinnett County, where McKenzie secured nearly two-thirds of the vote.

Districtwide, Henson, a Stone Mountain Democrat, beat McKenzie by 111 votes, according to official results from the Secretary of State's Office.

Henson has served in the Senate for 24 years, first spending eight years in the chamber before leaving in 1998 to run unsuccessfully for labor commissioner. He returned in 2002 and has been the Senate’s minority leader since 2011.

It was Henson’s first primary challenge since returning to office in 2002.

McKenzie, an ordained minister who teaches liturgical dance, was making her second bid to win a legislative seat.

The 47-year-old New York native, who moved to the Atlanta area in 1989 to attend Morris Brown College, ran for the state Senate in a different district in 2004, coming in third in a seven-way race.