Republican Herrell will not contest US House race loss

A Republican who lost a closely watched U.S. House race in southern New Mexico and has alleged voting irregularities says she will not contest the results.

The Albuquerque Journal reports Republican congressional candidate Yvette Herrell announced Monday she will not contest her defeat to Democrat Xochitl Torres Small after her campaign inspected more than 8,000 absentee ballots cast from a key county.

Herrell faced a Monday deadline to file a court challenge contesting the 2nd Congressional District race’s outcome under state law.

Herrell said she never intended to contest the results but suggested her campaign received enough claims of irregularities to warrant a review of the absentee ballots.

However, Herrell has refused to give details about any alleged irregularities and has not returned messages from The Associated Press.