DEARBORN — November’s race for 19th District Judge in Dearborn was expected to be hotly contested, and it lived up to that billing as incumbent Mark W. Somers won by just 228 votes.

Challenger Candyce Abbatt talked about a possible recount following the election after she lost by a vote count of 17,077-16,849, and on Monday, the process was in full swing. But Abbatt decided to withdraw her petition for the recount after approximately half of all precincts were recounted, officially conceding the election Somers.

“It was a fascinating but exhausting process,” said Abbatt in an e-mail. “I have to compliment the representatives (the State Bureau of Elections, Wayne County Board of Canvassers, the Dearborn City Clerk’s Office and the volunteers). The recount was run efficiently and everyone behaved professionally.”

Abbatt compared the recount to a judicial race recount in Allegan County on the west side of Michigan held last week in which ballots in 25 of 48 precincts could not be recounted because the number of voters did not match the number of ballots turned in or the ballots were found to be improperly sealed. Only one precinct in Dearborn was ruled uncountable.

Abbatt said after the election that the recount was necessary to be 100 percent sure that the results were fair after such a close election.

“The recount probably won’t change who won but it may put to rest some questions people might have,” she said a day after the election on Nov. 8.

Abbatt has yet to decide what her political plans may be in the future but she said the professionalism of the election and subsequent recount helped deepen her already strong respect for the Dearborn community.