VA Attorney General recount: McDonnell (R) wins with margin of 323 votes

[Joe Republic]

Source

Recount Fails to Overturn Va. GOP Victory

By LARRY O'DELL, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 11 minutes ago

RICHMOND, Va. - A recount Wednesday upheld Republican Bob McDonnell's narrow victory for attorney general in the closest statewide election in modern Virginia history.

Democrat Creigh Deeds demanded the recount after the State Board of Elections certified McDonnell the winner by just 323 votes out of more than 1.9 million cast in the Nov. 8 election — a margin of 0.0166 of a percentage point.

Deeds called McDonnell and congratulated him on the victory after preliminary recount results showed he could not overcome the margin. Deeds spokesman Mark Bergman said final numbers still were being tallied.

Totals from voting machines were rechecked in most of Virginia's 134 localities Tuesday. Results from each of the state's more than 2,500 precincts were sealed in envelopes, along with any challenged ballots, and delivered by state police to Richmond for a final tally and review by a three-judge panel.

The court ordered more rigorous hand counts in 10 precincts where problems with voting equipment were documented. A few thousand old-fashioned paper ballots statewide also had to be recounted manually, and punch-card ballots in one Virginia Beach precinct were rerun through a tabulator because a printout of the original results could not be read.

Virginia law allows a court-supervised recount when results fall within 1 percentage point. Taxpayers pick up the tab if the results are within one-half of 1 percentage point, although the campaigns must pay their lawyers and others helping them with the recount.

McDonnell, who has represented Virginia Beach in the House of Delegates for 14 years, appeared to win by about 3,000 votes on election night. But the margin narrowed as mistakes were found in the routine canvass of results by electoral boards in the days after the election.

Deeds, a state senator from rural Bath County, had pushed for the most intensive recount possible. However, the court rejected his request to rerun more than 500,000 optical scan ballots through vote tabulators.

In the only other statewide recount in modern Virginia history, Republican Marshall Coleman shaved only 113 votes from Democrat L. Douglas Wilder's 7,000-vote advantage in the 1989 governor's race.

[Frodo]

Source

Recount Fails to Overturn Va. GOP Victory

By LARRY O'DELL, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 11 minutes ago

RICHMOND, Va. - A recount Wednesday upheld Republican Bob McDonnell's narrow victory for attorney general in the closest statewide election in modern Virginia history.

Democrat Creigh Deeds demanded the recount after the State Board of Elections certified McDonnell the winner by just 323 votes out of more than 1.9 million cast in the Nov. 8 election — a margin of 0.0166 of a percentage point.

I am nitpicking here but for the sake of accuracy, according to the article, the margin of victory for Bob McDonnell was 360 votes.  McDonnell actually gained 37 more votes from the recount. 

[TheresNoMoney]

Too bad.

From what I've read, both Deeds and Byrne were underfunded and were not nearly as visible as their Republican challengers.

[Kevin]

Thank God Byrne didn't get elected.

[Speed of Sound]

That's a sham, but I guess that's jst the case. He'll just have to run again next time. By then the tides will be more in our favor.

[Ben.]

Thank God Byrne didn't get elected.

Agreed… what on earth she was doing on a ticket in Virginia I’ll never know.

But it’s a shame about Deeds I had hoped he’d be the gubernatorial candidate in 2009, that’s if Warner isn’t and I guess he could still be the candidate even if he isn’t AG. 

[Kevin]

I agree about Deeds unlike Kaine or Byrne he is a good ole' boy from Bath county.

[AuH2O]

That's a sham, but I guess that's jst the case. He'll just have to run again next time. By then the tides will be more in our favor.

Of course. The tide is always in the Democrats' favor.

[AuH2O]

That's a sham, but I guess that's jst the case. He'll just have to run again next time. By then the tides will be more in our favor.

Of course. The tide is always in the Democrats' favor.

And in your opinion the tide is never in the democrats favor.

Says who?

It is correct that, in the relatively short time I've posted on Atlas (a couple cycles), Democrats have struggled. It is also correct that I have understood reality.

Should the Democrats' prospects change for the better, I will be the first to attempt to capitalize. If you think I wouldn't win easy money on tradesports by betting on a Democrat, you misunderstand me.

[Moooooo]

Says who?

It is correct that, in the relatively short time I've posted on Atlas (a couple cycles), Democrats have struggled. It is also correct that I have understood reality.

Should the Democrats' prospects change for the better, I will be the first to attempt to capitalize. If you think I wouldn't win easy money on tradesports by betting on a Democrat, you misunderstand me.

The previous poster was simply pointing out that VA is becomming more and more democratic.

[TheresNoMoney]

Deeds would be a good Senate candidate in 2008 when John Warner retires.

[AuH2O]

True, that assertion is nearly universal. I happen to disagree, but it's not a cut-and-dried sort of thing. What does "Democratic" mean? If it means electing Dem governors, that used to happen every time. If it means voting for Dem presidential candidates, that still doesn't happen. If it means electing a Dem legislature, that used to happen and now it's 2/3 GOP. If it means electing Dem Senators, it used to happen and now there are 2 Republicans.

[Moooooo]

True, that assertion is nearly universal. I happen to disagree, but it's not a cut-and-dried sort of thing. What does "Democratic" mean? If it means electing Dem governors, that used to happen every time. If it means voting for Dem presidential candidates, that still doesn't happen. If it means electing a Dem legislature, that used to happen and now it's 2/3 GOP. If it means electing Dem Senators, it used to happen and now there are 2 Republicans.

I guess it just depends on your definition of 'trend'.   Democratic presidential candidates have been inching closer and closer in VA.  The influence of NOVA also plays into the hands of the democrats.

[AuH2O]

I'm not disputing that Dem presidential candidates are doing a bit better. But Bush improved greatly in Connecticut in 2004... is that a trend?

Bush did better in: Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennslyvania, New Jersey, and New Hampshire than Kerry did in Virginia. Hawaii, Connecticut, Illinois, California, Maine, and Delaware were basically equal.

The evidence is that the GOP has gone from zero to domination at the state and local levels in VA, and that the explosion in NOVA has gained Dem's a couple points in national races. That's what I see. Other people can see different things, but it's a matter of opinion either way.

[Ben.]

I agree about Deeds unlike Kaine or Byrne he is a good ole' boy from Bath county.

I don’t mind Kaine… he’s not terribly exciting but he practical and well meaning which can’t hurt he’ll probably be an ok but not amazing governor and may even go on to run for Senate in 2008… if its an open contest he might even win, but I’m not so sure he even be interested.

Your right about Deeds though he was a good blue-dog candidate I really was amazed he polled behind Kaine… then again I was amazed at how well Byrne did, thanks largely to her clinging for dear life to the Warner-Kaine coattails. I do wonder if Deeds would have been the better candidate for Lt.Gov, its not as though Byrne really helped Kaine – he locked up the Dem base sufficiently as it was – Deeds in contrast would have helped Kaine challenged Kilgore in the rural heart of the state.        

[Galactic Overlord]

True, that assertion is nearly universal. I happen to disagree, but it's not a cut-and-dried sort of thing. What does "Democratic" mean? If it means electing Dem governors, that used to happen every time. If it means voting for Dem presidential candidates, that still doesn't happen. If it means electing a Dem legislature, that used to happen and now it's 2/3 GOP. If it means electing Dem Senators, it used to happen and now there are 2 Republicans.

They continously cite the growing Democratic vote in Fairfax County.  True, it is putting a lot of Democratic votes on the table, and it no longer seems possible for a Republican to win the state by twenty points.  On the other hand, conservative areas of the state are also fast growing, and there's little to show that Democrats are making as big inroads in the rest of the state as they are in Fairfax.  I think you have a new, cosmpolitian Democrat vote emerging in the north, while old school yellow dog Democrats vote more Republican in the south, so in a way it is a tradeoff. In order for Fairfax to truly turn the state blue, it would need a large voting electorade on par with somewhere like Detroit, and I don't think that's going to happen any time soon.

[Kevin]

The immagrants and yuppies are making my state more liberal.

[Alcon]

The immagrants and yuppies are making my state more liberal.

"Yuppies" typically vote Republican, and I wasn't aware that Virginia's immigration rates are newly higher than normal relative to its U.S.-citizen growth rate.

[tarheel-leftist85]

It's not only the "yuppies" or immgrants:  It's the good 'ol boys that are *FINALLY* recognizing that Reps. aren't going to do anything tangible when it comes to protecting the moral integrity or national security of the American family (except to further destroy it through unfettered-Madison Ave. capitalism).  But democrats can only capitalize on this collective epiphany by running pragmatists (which describes Warner better than centrist or moderate).

[Kevin]

Yuppies mostly hail from the San Fransico lattie liberal crowd.

[nini2287]

The immagrants and yuppies are making my state more liberal.

What state are you from?  I think I've seen you with a PA, IL and CA avatar in the past month or so.

[Kevin]

Im from VA the NOVA area in matter of fact.

[bgwah]

There's a 90% chance the Republicans stole this election, just like Dino Rossi tried to steal an election in my state. But unlike poor Virginia, justice was fulfilled here and the democratic process was allowed to take place, despite the Republican Party's attempt to undo the people's will.

[Frodo]

There's a 90% chance the Republicans stole this election, just like Dino Rossi tried to steal an election in my state. But unlike poor Virginia, justice was fulfilled here and the democratic process was allowed to take place, despite the Republican Party's attempt to undo the people's will.

[Adlai Stevenson]

Does this now set McDonnell up as the Republican nominee for Governor in 2009 now then?