Gerry Connolly survives by the skin of his teeth:
Republican Keith Fimian will concede defeat Tuesday in the congressional race in Virginia’s 11th district, paving the way for Rep. Gerald Connolly (D) to serve a second term in the seat.
Fimian’s campaign has said only that he plans to release a statement about his plans Tuesday, and had not responded to a request for further comment as of this posting. But two sources familiar with Fimian’s decision confirmed that he would concede the race, choosing not to ask for a recount.
Connolly leads Fimian by 981 votes — or .4 percent of all votes cast — according to the Virginia state board of elections site. That margin entitles Fimian to ask for a recount after state election officials certify the results Nov. 22, but operatives from both parties who monitored the vote-counting process in the week since Election Day said they saw no glaring flaws in the numbers, and no clear path that would enable Fimian to make up the difference in a recount.
We included this race in our predictions contest because we figured it could surprise. From a quick glance at the data, it looks like many of you thought the same. (We’ll have to wait for the finalized data to be released before we can announce who gets the babka, of course.)
I think he’s got that seat for as long as he wants it (so long as he keeps it in his pants).
Why is that? (note: this wasn’t a race I was following so I know little about any of the candidates)
This is good news. Now, we just have to wait for Chandler’s opponent down in Kentucky to concede.
I said Fimian would win by the same margin as George W. in 2004.