Posted on 11/10/2005 9:10:56 PM PST by EagleClaw
Republican Robert F. McDonnell declared victory yesterday in the cliffhanger race for state attorney general, but Democrat R. Creigh Deeds refused to concede and prepared for a recount battle in court.
In probably the closest statewide election in Virginia's history, McDonnell said he had won by more than 1,500 votes of the almost 1.94 million votes cast. The State Board of Elections put his margin at 2,023; the Associated Press at 1,944.
"I feel confident I'm the next attorney general of Virginia," he told reporters yesterday.
But Deeds was defiant, arguing that "you have to wait until the votes are counted and they're not counted yet."
"I'll fight it until the last dog is dead, until the last vote is counted," Deeds said during a news conference yesterday with Gov.-elect Timothy M. Kaine.
-snip-
But Deeds said he was "absolutely" certain it could be done. A nine-lawyer team will oversee the recount effort and court challenge, he said.
"History shows that votes change as you go through the process of canvassing and recounting," said Deeds, a state senator from rural Bath County.
-snip-
The election "is close enough that it could be overturned," observed Larry J. Sabato, an elections specialist at the University of Virginia. "But it is really difficult to find a hundred votes when you need them, much less a few thousand.".
(Excerpt) Read more at timesdispatch.com ...
Republican stole this election by compelling more Virginians to vote for him, but the margin wasn't overwhelming. He should concede and allow the rightful Democratic victor (by a margin of negative few thousand) take the throne.
There is not much chance of the votes changing and he knows it. Most of Virginia has went to "fill in the circle" scanning systems. We used to have punch cards but that was phased out after the Florida mess. He is going to morn the loss of his beloved chads because they aren't going to steal him an election like with Gregoire.
Yes but if anyone can do it a Democrat can.
The election "is close enough that it could be overturned," observed Larry J. Sabato, an elections specialist at the University of Virginia. "But it is really difficult to find a hundred votes when you need them, much less a few thousand.".
Don't be too sure. Democrats are very good at finding votes. In alleys, post office boxes, cemetaries....... it's how they stole the governor's mansion here in WA.
::sigh::
Well, if the Dems are more competant than ours here in WA it won't take them three rigged counts to finally give the victory to the Dem.
Not enough that the Dems run and elect an ultra-liberal Gov. candidate under false moderate banners, but now it looks like they will try hanging chads or the equivalent here in VA.
Haven't started recount yet. Still doing official canvassing. Lead is 900 votes on the official VBE website, but I've read that the official site is not accurate, that things are changing too quickly.
Estimate from McDonnell's side now is that they will be up between 500-1000 votes when the canvassing is complete.
It is amazing that we can have so many close votes like this in a row. I just want to have an election that is over on election night.
We also have a delegate race that had a 44-vote spread. That is actually bigger than the spread on the AG race because of the small number of voters for delegate.
My social-and-fiscal hard conservative delegate won by 14% over a well-financed opponent (who spent twice as much as the incumbent. All 4 of the republicans representing parts of Prince William County were re-elected, and we went for the two winning republicans.
Apparently, we couldn't find enough republicans willing to vote for Kilgore though, as Kaine beat him in our county.
I will say this -- I don't think there were a lot of new democrats. I think the republicans simply didn't show up. Republicans were already depressed with the national scene, and Kilgore was very negative and had little real message. Die-hards could show up anyway, but normal voters simply were turned off. Meanwhile, the democrats were very energized by their candidate (god knows why, he sounded like a republican).
I was worried about this recount, I still am, but I hear that the Republican candidate has good people working on it, and is well-prepared for the recount.
UH oh, keep an eye out for more shoe boxes stuffed with RAT votes,that was ''mistakenly misplaced''behind a shelf,under a bed, through the garage, in the back alley! But then again don't forget the RATS cry ''EVERY VOTE MUST COUNT! [ just as long as they're RAT votes!)
You have it right. I think the Kilgore campaign was ham-handed at best, and made several large blunders. Kaine's advertising was more nimble, and he struck a better balance between negative/positive. Overall, I was amazed at the negative tone of the race all the way down the ticket, on both sides.
Kilgore could have done a few simple things to get over the top. He should have firmly promised to finish eliminating the car tax, and put Kaine on the spot to do the same, and kept hitting this issue. He should have made a bigger issue of illegal immigration, and sooner. And, although risky, I believe he should have debated Kaine publicly more than he did. Nobody except the faithful few really knew who he was. Kaine may have out-debated him, but it would have been a chance to speak directly to the electorate.
Of course, amazingly there is a handy excuse for this loss: "It's Bush's fault"
NOT.
Most areas in northern Virginia use electronic voting.
That is going to make it even more difficult to change the vote without outright fraud.
Any reports on the recount today? I hear Bob McDonnell, the GOP candidate, may be picking up a few votes here and there.
You mention Wilder's nephew. Did you know Larry E. Byrne, husband of the dem Lt Gov candidate who LOST, is vice chair of the Fairfax County Electoral Board?
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