Burns, who has refused to comment to reporters since votes started being counted Wednesday night, issued this statement at 1:47 p.m. Wednesday:
“Jon Tester ran a good race and has the lead right now, but it is extremely close. The state of Montana has a process in place, and it is our obligation to see it through. There are still votes out there that deserve to be counted.
“I believe we need to continue to let that process play itself out, and there is no need to rush to a conclusion when votes are this close.”