Races in Three States Still in Doubt : Both Sides Claim Minnesota House Seat

Both contenders in the House race in Minnesota’s 7th District--one of three national election contests still in doubt--claimed victory Saturday, even though Rep. Arlan Stangeland, a Republican, was narrowly ahead of Democrat Collin Peterson.

The phone at Peterson’s Moorhead office was being answered, “Congressman-elect Peterson’s office,” and the Democratic challenger said in a statement that he plans to attend a Dec. 8 party caucus in Washington.

“I expect to be seated and vote on the House leadership,” he said.

Stangeland, seeking a sixth term, said he was pleased to be ahead, and added: “I look forward to serving the 7th District in the 100th Congress.”

County audit reports from the 7th District’s 23 counties gave Stangeland 94,100 votes and Peterson 93,889--a lead of 211 votes for Stangeland.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, state police in Indiana were ordered to impound ballots and other election materials in the race between Republican Rep. John Hiler and his Democratic challenger, Thomas W. Ward, in the state’s 3rd District, which includes parts of South Bend.

Hiler 66 Votes Ahead

Unofficial totals showed Hiler ahead by just 66 of the more than 151,000 votes cast.

In 1980, Hiler upset John Brademas, for 22 years South Bend’s congressman and a House Democratic leader. He was reelected in 1982 and 1984.

Ward, who had claimed victory on election night, requested the impoundment Friday night in a telephone conversation with Indiana Secretary of State Ed Simcox, who chairs the State Recount Commission. Simcox then conferred with Hiler, who concurred.

The recount commission was established by the Legislature after the controversial 8th District congressional race in 1984, in which the Democratic incumbent, Frank McCloskey, was seated over Republican Richard McIntyre after several recounts.

State police were prepared Saturday afternoon to begin impounding the materials in six counties in northern Indiana. The impounding process might last until Monday morning, when the offices of county election boards reopen for business, Simcox said.

Voter totals processed by district county clerks’ offices had shown Hiler winning by 166 votes, or 75,952 to 75,786. But on Friday, officials found a machine showing 100 additional votes for Ward than the tally sheet had indicated, and that cut Hiler’s lead to 66 votes, canvassing officials said.

‘Incidents’ at Polls Cited

A similar revision was made in the Minnesota race. Beltrami County officials said they gave Stangeland 100 votes too many in their canvass, so his lead would be only 121 votes, but county officials said the error cannot be corrected without a candidate demanding such action.

Peterson, a Minnesota state senator, said he was contesting the returns in some counties because of “disturbing incidents” at many polling places.

“For the past few days,” Peterson’s statement said, “at least six different sets of numbers have been floating around as results of the election. The only thing that can be said with certainty about those numbers is that they are all wrong.”

In a third race still in doubt this weekend, North Carolina freshman Rep. Howard Coble apparently defeated former Democratic Rep. Robin Britt by 83 votes. But Britt, citing several examples of what he called election irregularities, has asked for a full recount.

Democrat Concedes Race

Meanwhile in New York state, Democrat Rosemary Pooler conceded defeat in her attempt to unseat Rep. George C. Wortley in the 27th District, which includes Syracuse.

Of the more than 165,000 ballots cast, Pooler got 82,354 votes to Wortley’s 82,865, according to unofficial totals from the Onondaga County Board of Elections. Although elections officials still had to recount about 4,000 absentee ballots, Pooler said it had become clear that the outcome would not change.

Pooler, 48, a lawyer who launched her public career as a consumer advocate, served until April on the state Public Service Commission. She said she may run again in 1988.

Victories for Stangeland, Coble and Wortley would give the Republicans 177 House seats in the 100th Congress. Democrats would then hold 258, for a net gain of five seats over the 253-180 edge they had before the election, not counting two vacancies.