Mary Fant Donnan has picked up another endorsement from a former opponent in the Democratic primary for state labor commissioner.

Ty Richardson announced Thursday he supports Donnan over former labor commissioner John Brooks in the June 24 runoff, Michael Biesecker reports.

Richardson joined fellow former candidate Robin Anderson, who endorsed Donnan earlier in the week.

There will not be a recount in the labor race.

The State Board of Elections has refused to grant a ballot recount to the third- and fourth-place finishers in this month's Democratic primary for labor commissioner.

The board was split 2-2 Thursday on the requests brought by Ty Richardson and Robin Anderson. A tie means the request failed. A fifth board member couldn't participate, the Associated Press reports.

The board’s decision means a runoff between leading vote-getter Mary Fant Donnan and second-place finisher John Brooks will go as scheduled June 24.

State law allows the board to order a mandatory recount or a discretionary recount. State elections director Gary Bartlett said the board determined that neither one applied in this case.

Richardson was less than 2,000 votes behind Brooks. Anderson was about 5,000 votes behind.

Brooks said he had been expecting the board to approve a recount.

"I guess I'm surprised that there's not going to be one," he said. 

The third and fourth place finishers in the Democratic primary for state Labor Commissioner want a recount.

Mary Fant Donnan of Winston Salem finished first, but failed to get the 40 percent of the vote that would have allowed her to avoid a runoff with former labor commissioner John Brooks of Raleigh, Michael Biesecker reports.

However, state law allows candidates in a statewide race who finish either .5 percent or less 10,000 votes behind a prevailing candidate to request a recount.

Though the primary won't be certified by the state Board of Elections until next week, complete but unofficial results show Brooks at 24.36 percent, candidate Ty Richardson at 24.18 percent and Raleigh lawyer Robin Anderson at 23.92 percent.

Both Richardson and Anderson filed for a recount by the deadline Thursday.

Former Labor Commissioner John C. Brooks, who is currently in second place for votes in the Democratic primary for his old job, filed for a runoff Tuesday.

Due to a huge number of provisional ballots cast on May 5, however, some North Carolina counties have yet to certify their primary results, including Wake, Michael Biesecker reports.

That means just who finished second to primary winner Mary Fant Donnan of Winston-Salem, who garnered about 27.5 percent of the vote, is still in doubt.

Currently, the count stands with Brooks at 24.4 percent, Ty Richardson at 24.2 percent and Robin Anderson at 23.9 percent.

As the count stood Tuesday, 2,584 votes separated Brooks and Richardson.

If Richardson or Anderson fail to overtake Brooks to finish second, state law allows for a recount if the margin is one percent of the vote. That could add another week of uncertainty to the process.

If needed, a runoff will be held June 24, with the winner facing GOP incumbent Cherie Berry in November.

"If I have the opportunity to call for a runoff I certainly will," said Brooks, who served as labor commissioner from 1977 to 1993. "As voters learn more about the race they'll see I have the experience to do the job and unseat the incumbent."