2 state representative candidates still waiting for winner to be declared 2 months after election

PEPPERELL - Who will be the next state representative in the First Middlesex District in Massachusetts?

Just seven votes separated Republican Andrew Shepherd and Democrat Margaret Scarsdale after a recount.

Shepherd is trailing, but he's still not conceding, even though it's been two months since Election Day.

"This has nothing to do with election denialism. This is a close, close margin. It's seven votes," he told WBZ-TV.

"At the end of the day, I still emerged the winner. We are confident in that vote," Scarsdale said.

Shepherd argues the ballot counting process was marred by errors and says voters should head back to the polls.

The district covers the towns of Ayer, Ashby, Dunstable, Groton, Pepperell and Townsend.

"We had one town admit that they accidentally sent the wrong ballots to people in the First Middlesex so they just didn't have a chance to vote," Shepherd told WBZ. "We had one town they may have accidentally counted test ballots."

This, and another razor-thin race in the Second Essex District where just one vote separates the candidates, prompted House Speaker Ron Mariano to delay their swearing-in while a legislative committee looks into whether a special election is needed.

"(It) depends what the committee decides. I would be shocked if that was the case," Mariano said.

While she would've preferred to be sworn in with the rest of the state representatives last week, Scarsdale said she wants to see this process play out fairly.

"I would rather have the swearing in delayed and have everyone say this went through all of the steps. There is no question and no doubt about the winner than to seem like it's being rushed," she told WBZ.

The special legislative committee will meet at the State House Friday to hear from the lawyers representing each candidate to figure out the next path forward.