Les Fossel and Chris Johnson are no strangers to close races.

The two candidates traded pole position for most of election night, but in the end it was Johnson who retook the Maine State Senate District 13 seat.

In the 2012 election, more than 21,500 combined votes were cast for Fossel, R-Alna, and Johnson, D-Somerville, and only 130 votes separated the pair.

District 13 covers all of Lincoln County, except Dresden, and also includes Washington and Windsor.

In the 2014 race, more than 18,500 votes were cast for both the incumbent Johnson and the challenger Fossel. Again, the unofficial tally has shown a slim margin between the two candidates, with only 339 votes separating the two.

While Fossel asked for a recount in the 2012 match-up, the latest installment might not get the same treatment. On Monday, Nov. 10, Fossel said he would wait until the official tallies were released by the Secretary of the State of Maine.

“I'm still waiting on the official results, but if (the difference between the two candidates) doesn't go down, there's no way I can make up the difference.”

Fossel said that sometimes there is a large discrepancy between the unofficial and official results. Should there be a large enough difference between the two counts, Fossel said he would consider asking the secretary of state for a recount by the Wednesday, Nov. 12 deadline.

Already, the secretary of state will have three recounts on the docket with recounts requested in the Maine Senate District 11 race, District 21 race and the Senate District 21 race.

Fossel said that he would also wait until the official results were in to remove himself from the race.

“I have no plans to concede the race to Chris Johnson,” he said. Fossel added that he thought the campaign had taken a dirty turn, and said he would wait until the results were official before deciding his next move.

In the unofficial tally compiled by the Boothbay Register, Johnson took 12 towns including Boothbay Harbor, Damariscotta and Newcastle. Fossel meanwhile was able to claim Boothbay, Jefferson, Southport, Waldoboro and Wiscasset.