Ward 8 City Council candidate Soren Stevenson announced on Thursday that his campaign would not be asking for a recount after he lost the election to current Ward 8 Councilmember Andrea Jenkins by 38 votes. That amount of votes is few enough to qualify for a publicly-funded recount, but Stevenson is declining that option.

“To allow for our campaign team and supporters to rest and grieve the loss of this election, my campaign team and I have decided not to pursue a recount at this time,” Stevenson wrote in a statement posted to Twitter and Facebook late Thursday afternoon.

Read Soren Steveson’s full statement here

Minneapolis uses ranked choice voting in its City Council elections. While Stevenson had the most first choice votes, Jenkins beat him in second and third choice votes, which put her over the top in the final tally.