Innis concedes House race, abandons recount effort

LAS VEGAS — A Nevada congressional candidate who came in second place in the Republican primary earlier this month conceded the race Monday and abandoned a bid for a recount.

Niger Innis called state Assemblyman Cresent Hardy on Monday, about two weeks after the election, and congratulated him on his win, according to Innis’ campaign.

“As much as I’d like to continue, and I still believe in my heart that the vote tabulations are flawed, it’s time to move on,” Innis said in a statement.

Hardy received 43 percent of the vote in the 4th Congressional District primary, while Innis took 33 percent and Mike Monroe earned 22 percent.

Innis questioned how Monroe made such a strong showing while conducting virtually no campaign activities.

“For a relatively unknown to not campaign, not spend money nor to make any effort whatsoever to campaign, and then receive over 22 percent of the vote, should make even the most experienced political observer question the process,” he said.

Monroe, who was making his third unsuccessful bid for Congress, said voters resonated with his platform and called Innis “a sore loser.”

Innis said his campaign team conducted its own preliminary probe into the vote tallies and found few voters were aware of Monroe’s candidacy. But the campaign team, noting the burden of proof for a voter-fraud complaint rested with the team, determined a full investigation into the calibration of the voting machines would be “an expensive, time-consuming initiative.”

Innis said he decided it was time to back his fellow Republican Hardy in his bid to unseat Democratic Rep. Steven Horsford.

The sprawling, diverse 4th Congressional District stretches from North Las Vegas to Yerington and Ely.