Politics & Government
Candidate Concedes in Virginia Attorney General Race
Totals still have to be certified between Mark Herring and Mark Obenshain, but preliminary results point to a clear, but still narrow, end to the election.
By Greg Hambrick
State Sen. Mark Obenshain conceded Wednesday in his race to become Virginia's next attorney general after three days of a recount increased the margin of victory for State Sen. Mark Herring, a Democrat.
The apparent victory gave the Democrats a clean sweep of all three statewide offices in the Nov. 5 election, including governor and lieutenant governor.
"It's been a long and vigorous campaign but it's over," Obenshain said at a news conference, according to news reports, including WJLA.
A race with just 165 votes between the candidates on election night has now seen the spread widen to more than 800 votes with 73 percent of the recount completed, according to the Herring campaign. It's still a close race — with more than 2.2 million votes cast — but no longer the record-breaker that it appeared to be.
All results will need to be certified by the Richmond court overseeing the recount.
In Fairfax County, closely watched because of its large population, Obenshain gained 297 votes, but Herring continued to outpace the Republican, adding 575 votes.
In other recount news....it appears the recount in the race for the Delegate to the 86th District, which includes Herndon as well as parts of the Sterling and Oak Hill areas and dips into neighboring Loudoun County as well, is not yet complete.
County officials indicated on the website that they expect the recount for that race, between Republican incumbent Tom Rust and Democrat Jennifer Boysko, to be complete by the end of the week.
The most recent state-certified tally had Rust leading Boysko by just 54 votes, or 0.26 percent.
State Sen. Mark Obenshain conceded Wednesday in his race to become Virginia's next attorney general after three days of a recount increased the margin of victory for State Sen. Mark Herring, a Democrat.
The apparent victory gave the Democrats a clean sweep of all three statewide offices in the Nov. 5 election, including governor and lieutenant governor.
"It's been a long and vigorous campaign but it's over," Obenshain said at a news conference, according to news reports, including WJLA.
A race with just 165 votes between the candidates on election night has now seen the spread widen to more than 800 votes with 73 percent of the recount completed, according to the Herring campaign. It's still a close race — with more than 2.2 million votes cast — but no longer the record-breaker that it appeared to be.
All results will need to be certified by the Richmond court overseeing the recount.
In Fairfax County, closely watched because of its large population, Obenshain gained 297 votes, but Herring continued to outpace the Republican, adding 575 votes.
In other recount news....it appears the recount in the race for the Delegate to the 86th District, which includes Herndon as well as parts of the Sterling and Oak Hill areas and dips into neighboring Loudoun County as well, is not yet complete.
County officials indicated on the website that they expect the recount for that race, between Republican incumbent Tom Rust and Democrat Jennifer Boysko, to be complete by the end of the week.
The most recent state-certified tally had Rust leading Boysko by just 54 votes, or 0.26 percent.
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