WINTERPORT (AP) – A candidate who won the Democratic nomination in House District 42 is being credited with noticing an election night mistake that may cost him the race.

Joe Brooks was declared the winner in his campaign against Donna Gilbert for the Democratic nomination. But Brooks said the outcome will probably be different because he noticed an apparent mistake while reviewing the tally sheets.

Brooks said his review of the transcripts in Winterport shows that instead of winning by nine votes, he may have lost by about 40 votes.

“In politics you throw your hat in the ring and never know what comes back,” Brooks said.

Winterport Town Clerk Kathy Selfridge confirmed Thursday that discrepancies in the vote tallies from her town left it unclear who actually won.

Brooks knows the drill.

Two years ago he was denied victory by four votes when a recount gave the same House seat to incumbent Jeff Kaelin, R-Winterport. Brooks picked up two votes in the recount but lost by four votes.

Selfridge said the town recorded that 239 voters cast ballots in Tuesday’s election when the actual number of ballots distributed was 227.

She said it appeared that some votes had been added to the tally, and that some numbers may have been transposed from one column to the next.

Selfridge said Brooks pointed out some of the potential errors after he reviewed the tally sheets Wednesday night. But she said she can’t review the actual ballots because they’ve been sealed and shipped to Augusta.

That means the candidates will have to await the results of an official recount. Next Thursday, the secretary of state’s office is scheduled to recount ballots in House District 42, which is made up of Winterport, Monroe, Swanville, Jackson, Waldo and Brooks.

Brooks said that after he realized the error and informed town officials, he hopped in his truck and drove to Gilbert’s house. “My heart was in my throat, but the only thing you can really do is go tell her,” he said.

Gilbert said she first learned of the mix-up when Brooks and his wife, Mary, arrived at her home Wednesday night.

“He is a very, very honorable man,” Gilbert said. “I don’t know how this will all play out. We’ll see what happens.”