From CBS 9 in Charlottesville:
Monday is a big day in Virginia’s 5th Congressional district, as the results of the race between incumbent, Republican Virgil Goode and democratic, challenger Tom Perriello will be certified by the Virginia Board of Elections.
According to the State Board of Elections, with over 316,679 ballots counted, Perriello holds a 745 vote advantage in the race. That amounts to about a quarter of one percent, meaning it is well within the threshold necessary for a recount.
Goode’s team has told CBS 9 that they will seek a recount.
I’d be really surprised if a recount changed the result, given that there haven’t been reports of the kind of widespread problems which might lead a reasonable soul to question the results. And while the margin is similar to Norm Coleman’s on election night, the total number of votes cast in this race is not even a ninth of the number in MN-Sen, so the odds of a sufficient shift are far lower.
But might I say, congratulations Rep. Perriello 🙂
The last major statewide recount in VA was 2005 (Democrat Creigh Deeds narrowly lost to Republican Bob McDonnell). Statewide, the number changed by 37 votes.
Can’t imagine much change in 1/11 of the state.
taxpayer money. But then again he’s got a long history doing so. I wonder if he’s a sore enough loser to run again if this fails? I would imagine this would be a top target for Republicans in 2010.
Also O/T but I don’t know where else to put it, Ben Smith reports that Obama’s doing robocalls for Martin
http://www.politico.com/blogs/…
I remember from the 2006 Senate race, so no chance really of a change…
I’ll update Iowa once the official results after the state canvass today will be posted, expect it to be done by tomorrow
The Charlottesville Daily Progress is reporting (as of 12:05 PM) that Tom Perriello has been certified the winner by the state Board of Elections.
Hip, hip, hooray.
No statement by the Goode camp which may mean they are actually considering conceding or may mean they are simply disorganized. The Perriello people essentially repeated their victory statement of November 7 and added that Tom Perriello has already attended an orientation meeting for new congressmen.
If Goode ran again in 2010, which he likely will, he won’t defeat Perriello. Goode may be, perhaps, the last old-school Byrd Democrat left in Virginia. However, he didn’t realize that the demographics of his district were changing.