Mail-in ballots have been counted in the Ontario County district attorney Republican primary race.

Workers with the Ontario County Board of Elections have gone through the last absentee ballots postmarked June 24.

The final tally had county Assistant Attorney Jason MacBride over incumbent Jim Ritts by 103 votes. That lead means there will be no automatic hand recount.

The Board of Elections says it is hoping to certify all county races by Thursday, ahead of the holiday weekend.

"It just goes to show you that hard work [and] genuine relationships go very, very far. And I couldn't be prouder for the folks that worked on the campaign," MacBride said.

Unofficial tabulated results came down to 36 Republican ballots. 

“Ultimately, this was kind of a David versus Goliath scenario," MacBride said. "We were outspent 15 to 1. We didn't pay political consultants or professionals. This was really just folks who believed in restoring some values to the DA's office."

Jim Ritts released a statement Tuesday, saying he "disappointed" in the results, but looked forward to running in the general election this fall: 

"I'm disappointed to have come up short in the Republican Primary by 103 votes, but I'm looking forward to running in the General Election where we'll have far greater voter turnout.

“I owe it to the citizens of this community to continue running. We cannot compromise public safety and endanger our community by electing Jason Macbride. He would be a public safety disaster for our community and I will not be silenced by political insiders that put politics over results.

"Less than 4,300 people voted in the Republican Primary. That's a tiny slice of our population; there are more than 112,000 people in Ontario County and more than 80,000 registered voters. The Republican Primary accounted for barely 5% of registered voters countywide.

"When the full population considers the candidates and votes in November, I'm optimistic that they'll deliver a different result than this razor-thin Primary.”

Ritts has been serving the role since 2018 and hoped this would be his third time with the Republican vote.

Both candidates have faced backlash throughout their campaigns.

There’s been allegations of employee drinking in the courtroom on Ritt’s watch for an annual “Fall Fest” party on Election Day 2024. It led to a human resources internal investigation.

MacBride has been criticized for his connection to a Geneva police officer accused of selling drugs, an officer he says he’s known and worked with for years. A special prosecutor has been assigned to the case.