US HR VA-5 Recount: Tom Perriello's(D) win is official [over incumbent Virgil Goode Jr.(R)]

Martinsville Bulletin ^ | December 18, 2008 | Staff

[flattorney]

- - He will be congressman by a margin of 727 votes

Congressman-elect Tom Perriello promised to continue his “double shift” working for the 5th District’s needs in Washington after being certified the winner of the congressional race Wednesday by a court in Albemarle County. A three-judge panel certified the final margin of victory at 727 votes, with 158,810 for Perriello and 158,083 for Republican incumbent Virgil Goode Jr. The recount found 250 vote changes, with Goode having a net gain of 18 votes.

The recount began Tuesday with local election officials rechecking results in the district’s 22 localities. They sent their results to Charlottesville for a long and tedious day of reviewing the results, resolving disputed ballots and tabulating the localities’ totals. The participants hit a snag when they found 63 absentee ballots from Halifax County that had not previously been counted — 20 votes for Perriello and 43 for Goode. The campaigns agreed after considerable discussion that the votes should be counted, and the judges accepted the recommendation. Perriello had picked up five votes elsewhere. Those votes, subtracted from the 23-vote gain for Goode in Halifax, resulted in the final 18-vote gain for the Republican.

The Virginia State Board of Elections last month certified Perriello as the winner by 745 votes, but the margin of less than a quarter of a percentage point entitled Goode, of Rocky Mount, to a recount at taxpayer expense. The results were presented Wednesday in Albemarle County Circuit Court, giving Democrats a 6-5 edge in Virginia’s U.S. House delegation.

Perriello, a Democrat from Ivy, will represent the 5th District in the 111th Congress and will be sworn in Jan. 6. Goode said in a telephone interview that he e-mailed a congratulatory message to Perriello. He said he has not considered what to do next. “I’m not even going to think about that now,” said Goode, 62. “It was an honor to represent the 5th District for 12 years and to serve in the state Senate before that, and I thank all those who supported me.”

Tucker Watkins, 5th District GOP chairman, said many people have urged him to encourage Goode to run again against Perriello. In a statement issued Wednesday, Perriello, 34, said he felt gratified and humbled by the outcome but disappointed that the court denied a joint motion from both candidates’ lawyers asking that 70 late-arriving military and overseas ballots be counted in the results. “I’m gratified that after an exhaustive democratic process, we now can say with certainty that this election is over, and the 5th District has asked me to fight for jobs and economic relief in Washington,” Perriello said in the release. He also stated, “I am disappointed that the court denied my request to count the votes of those brave men and women serving overseas that arrived after the deadline, even though it would not have altered the outcome. “I pledge that standing up for our servicemen and women overseas and our veterans as they return home will always be a priority for me,” Perriello continued in the release. “I want to thank all of those who worked tirelessly over the past few days and weeks to ensure a fair and accurate vote count.”

In a statement, Goode said, “I congratulate Mr. Perriello and wish him well as he represents the 5th District. ... I extend special thanks and appreciation to all the volunteers who worked as observers and in other ways during this recount process. I am also grateful for the election officials that conducted the recount.” Goode campaign spokesman Mike Brown said the recount process was “tremendous” and “reaffirmed democracy.” “Both sides got together. It was orderly, it was smooth,” and it took into account “the fact that everybody’s vote is sacred and important in this country,” Brown said. Goode, an attorney, “has always been involved and will continue to be involved in helping the people in the 5th District and looking out for their interests,” Brown said.

Goode first was elected to public office — the state Senate — in 1973, the year before Perriello was born. Goode served there until 1996, when he was elected to Congress. He was seeking a seventh two-year term when he was defeated in the Nov. 4 election. He continued to practice law in Rocky Mount while he was in the state Senate, but outside employment is barred for congressmen.

Perriello credited the “historic upset” of the longtime politician to grassroots efforts, showing that “people are ready to trade in the old politics of fear and division for a new style of positive, solutions-oriented public service,” he said in the release. “When people ask how we were able to come from 34 points behind to win in a district that John McCain carried, I tell them of our commitment to a people-powered campaign, fueled by thousands of individuals and the largest grassroots network the district has ever seen,” he stated. He was referring to the first public poll results for the 5th District race, released Aug. 13 before his initial debate with Goode. Perriello said his “double shift working for the people of the 5th District,” which he first announced in November, is “well under way.” “Through my ongoing listening tour of the district, our Shop the Fifth program and our transition team, we have not changed our pace or our focus on economic recovery,” he said in the release.

Perriello has not yet found out his committee assignments, which may not be announced until January. However, he told Martinsville City Council earlier this month that he requested assignments dealing with his priorities of infrastructure, work force development and small business.

[flattorney]

All U.S. House elections have now been decided. U.S. Senate Norm Coleman-"Soros Boy" Franken only undecided election.

Live Recount 2 – Contested Ballots
Started December 16, 2008
Minneapolis Star Tribune (Endorses Coleman) Senate Recount | Live Video | Blog
The Uptake: Live Video & Blog | MN Public Radio Coverage | FR Live Thread
Minneapolis-St. Paul TV Stations: NBC | CBS | ABC | FOX ~ Minnesota U.S. Senate Election Fiasco ~
FR Keywords: Norm Coleman(R) | Al Franken(D) | Franken: SorosBoy | Porn-O-Rama! | Endorsed by Al “Globull Fraud” Gore
Coleman-GOP Election Recount Legal Action(s) | MN Sec. of State Mark "Commie Soros Puppet" Ritchie
"The Dirt": Arianna Huffington was Franken's Secret Video Sex 'Ho - Post 2

MAR

[St. Louis Conservative]

What happened in this district? Why did Goode lose? This is a district where Obama would have been a liability. I remember Goode having some issues in the past. This is a bad loss, but it’s one that the GOP should be able to win back provided they field a credible candidate in 2010.

[cripplecreek]

Too bad, he’s a Goode man.

[FlingWingFlyer]

Commie DemocRATS ALWAYS win "recounts." That's what "recounts" are for.

[TribalPrincess2U]

GOP should be able to win back provided they field a credible candidate in 2010

that's the key here. They won't get my support unless they come up with a winning person and start acting like they want to win. I'm tired of these wussies that won't fight. We need new blood.

[fieldmarshaldj]

Someone in the district told me Goode ran some ads against Perriello that really backfired and rubbed people the wrong way as either disingenuous or below the belt (”That’s not the Goode that I know.”). He shouldn’t have lost, but he did. Whether he wants to make a comeback is another story.

[cripplecreek]

I lost a good congressman too. Tim Walberg ran an upbeat positive campaign and the democrat (Mark Shauer) accused Walberg of everything from force feeding diabetics glazed donuts to killing cancer patients.

Funny thing is that our local paper said Walberg is a good honest man but he just won’t bring home the pork that Shauer will.

[ClayinVA]

Heavy registration of students at UVA was the margin of error, plus right before the election, local news were running a story of Goode supporting a gay film.

[Impy]

I guess the not so Goode ad in question is one that portrays that rat as bearded (he’s not) and “dark skinned”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eV7lxlftZwI

I really think the bizarre gay movie thing may have made more of an impact here.

Those college students couldn’t tip the district to Obama. McLame carried it.

[Impy]

Sounds like your local paper should be used to heat the homeless and line bird cages instead of being read. Hopefully Shauer will serve only 1 term.

[St. Louis Conservative]

Goode was kinda bizarre as I remember. If the Reps find a credible conservative to run in 2010, this should be one we can take back. Same goes for MD-01.

[Impy]

Yes. Both are must win backs.

No Republican besides Goode (who was a conservative rat who went Indy and then GOP) has ever won the seat in modern times.

In Maryland 1 the candidate came from the Baltimore burbs. Now his area was stuck in the seat by the rats and they have every right to elect one of their own but this hurt him in the Eastern Shore. We need an Eastern Shore Conservative. Before the RINO Gilcrest a rat held the seat for 10 years after beating a Mark Foley Republican in 1980.

[Clintonfatigued]

Key to Perriello’s win was that he outpolled Goode in Danville. It turns out that Danville has a popular Republican state Senator.

[St. Louis Conservative]

Andy Harris should run again in 2010. He only lost by 1,000 votes or so. Harris could win it back in a more favorable year. Harris is an Eastern Shore conservative for sure.

As for VA-05, the Reps need to find a good grassroots conservative in that district. Shouldn’t be too hard. Goode should stay retired.

[Impy]

Harris is the Baltimore burbs conservative.

http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/mdmanual/05sen/html/msa02793.html