November 7, 2002, 8:45 PM EST
 
 CUMBERLAND -- A Republican challenger claimed a 71-vote victory today over House Speaker Casper R. Taylor Jr. after a count of absentee ballots, but Taylor refused to concede the election.
 
 After the absentee ballots were counted in Allegany and Washington counties, LeRoy Myers had 5,645 votes overall to 5,574 for Taylor. Only 20 ballots from military and overseas voters remained to be counted on Nov. 15.
 
 Myers, 51, watched the seven-hour process of counting absentee ballots in Allegany County.
 
 "I'm declaring victory," he said afterward. "Obviously, I'm very happy, ecstatic with the outcome."
 
 But Taylor, reached by phone Thursday evening at his Allegany County home, would not concede.
 
 "Obviously, I'm disappointed in the absentee count," he said. "But I'm going to wait until the canvass is finished tomorrow."
 
 The canvass, scheduled for Friday, is part of the vote-certification process. It involves elections officials testing a sampling of voting machines to check their accuracy.
 
 Taylor, 67, also said he was talking to advisers about whether to request a recount.
 
 David Paulson, a spokesman for the state Democratic Party, said he would encourage Taylor to seek a recount because the vote was so close.
 
 "I don't hold out much hope for that, but you never know," Paulson said. Paulson acknowledged that 71 votes was a wide margin to overcome in a recount.
 
 The earliest Taylor could request a recount would be after the military and overseas votes are counted and the election results are certified, Paulson said.
 
 Taylor has been a delegate for 28 years and leader of the House of Delegates for eight. He has used the position to bring a number of high- profile, state-subsidized projects to his home county in hopes of reviving its stagnant economy. They include the Rocky Gap golf resort and the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad.
 
 Taylor did not attend the vote-counting process in Cumberland. He was represented by his son and campaign treasurer, Brendan Taylor, and by an attorney.
 
 Myers said he was looking at space in Cumberland for a district office and had talked with members of the western Maryland legislative delegation about their shared interests.
 
 "I want to get busy right away," he said.
 
 Myers is a Clear Spring contractor and political novice. He attributed his strong showing to Allegany County voters looking for a change and to opposition to a planned horseracing track near the Allegany County community of Little Orleans.
 
 Myers also cited the addition of western Washington County to Taylor's territory during the redistricting process, which added Republicans to the district, as a factor in his victory.
 
 Taylor declined to comment on a report Thursday in the Cumberland Times-News in which he seemed to indicate an interest in becoming state treasurer if he lost the election.
 
 "I'm too young to quit now," Taylor told the newspaper on Wednesday. "I'm perfectly willing to sit down with Gov.-elect Ehrlich and members of the state Board of Public Works to see if there's a place for me in that body. I've had some discussions on that issue today, as a matter of fact."
 
 The Board of Public Works is a panel composed of the governor, the state comptroller and the state treasurer. The board approves all capital expenditures by the state.
 
 Taylor passed last year on a chance to become treasurer after Richard Dixon resigned. The General Assembly elected former Delegate Nancy Kopp to the post instead. The legislature could replace Kopp in January.
 
 Copyright (c) 2002, The Associated Press
 
 Link to the article: http://www.sunspot.net/bal-taylor1107.story
 
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