WDBJ7 Roanoke News and Weather NRV Lynchburg Danville | Democrats claim victory, Goode calls declaration premature

Democrats claim victory, Goode calls declaration premature

UPDATED 11:30 P.M.

The State Board of Elections reports 158,562 votes for Tom Perriello and 157,914 for Virgil Goode.

Even though the a winner has yet to be certified, the leader of Virginia Democrats says the race is already over.

"It just looks like to us there's no way you can make up 600 votes in Bedford County," says Dick Cranwell.  "We've already looked at the numbers from election night.  It would have to be some significant change."
*CG 2line Dick Cranwell
VA Dem Party Chair

Cranwell called Perriello Thursday to congratulate him on what he called the biggest upset win in United States History.

But Virgil Goode's campaign says Democratic claims of victory are premature.  He released this statement Thursday evening:

"Any declarations of winners and losers in this race is premature. This contest is undeniably close, the vote totals have greatly varied back and forth since election night, and the official counting process is still ongoing. It is important that we take the time for a fair and thorough process to ensure that every legitimate vote is counted. We remain optimistic that we will prevail when this process is completed."

UPDATED: 5:21 p.m.

The State Board of Elections reports 158,534 votes for Perriello and 157,895 for Goode.  At one point Thursday, the margin was only 30 votes.

The numbers keep changing as local election officials double check their numbers.  The biggest change came from Charlottesville. Two precincts there failed to report their paper ballots on election night. They've gone strongly in Perriello's favor.

UPDATED: 4:15 p.m.

The State Board of Elections reports 158,523 votes for Perriello and 157,894 for Goode.

UPDATED: 4:12 p.m.

The State Board of Elections reports 158,518 votes for Perriello and 157,886 for Goode.

UPDATED: 2:27 p.m.

The State Board of Elections reports 158,516 votes for Perriello and 157,684 for Goode.

UPDATED: 2:11 p.m.

The State Board of Elections reports 158,516 votes for Perriello and 157,702 for Goode.

UPDATED: 1:45 p.m.

New numbers reported from Campbell County make the difference just 30 votes.  At 1:24 p.m., the State Board of Elections reported 157,521 votes for Perriello and 157,491 for Goode.

UPDATED: 12:25 p.m.

The State Board of Elections now has Tom Perriello at 157,460 to Virgil Goode's 157,407, with 100% of the precincts reporting. 

UPDATED: Thursday, November 6 @ 11:40 a.m.

The State Board of Elections now has Tom Perriello at 157,459 to Virgil Goode's 157,407, with 100% of the precincts reporting. 

Elections officials say the numbers could keep changing as local offices double check their totals.

There may not be a final count until mid-day Friday.

Both candidates are crossing their fingers and watching the numbers closely, and both are confident they'll come out on top.

UPDATED: 11:10 P.M.

There is still no winner in the 5th District Congressional race.

The State Board of Elections shows Democratic challenger Tom Perriello is up by only 31 votes over the incumbent Republican Virgil Goode.
   
At the Hub Restaurant in Rocky Mount, it's what everyone is talking about.  Many cannot believe Virgil Goode is fighting for his political life.

"I'm shocked," says Rocky Mount resident Deborah Hall.  "I'm shocked that he is down that far."

When News7 walked into the restaurant, several people asked us for the latest numbers.  They never thought the race would be this close.

"Right now, I'm pretty nervous, the way it's changed from this morning to now," says James Wright. 

The 5th District race has certainly been a roller coaster.  Wednesday morning, Goode was up by 1,500 votes.  By mid-morning that had dropped to about 150.  At 2:30 p.m., Goode was only ahead by six votes.  By 5 p.m., things had switched and Perriello was ahead by 30 votes.

Goode joked with reporters at a 5:30 news conference.  He says he's cautiously optimistic and doesn't believe the close race is an indictment on him or the Republican party.

"I don't know," says Goode.  "I think a lot of people were happy with me.  What you saw was a huge amount of money distorting my record."

Tom Perriello is also feeling confident.  News7 caught up with him as he thanked supporters in Danville.

"We're all just going to hold our breath and let these folks do their jobs, who have been pulling all-nighters to get these numbers together," says Perriello.

Both candidates say it's too early to ask for a recount.  The folks in Hub Restaurant hope the race is decided sooner rather than later.

UPDATED: 5:50 P.M.

The State Board of Elections lists Democrat Tom Perriello ahead of Republican incumbent Virgil Goode by 31 votes; that's out of nearly 300,000 votes cast.

Neither candidate is claiming victory in this race, but both Goode and Perriello say they will come out the winner.

Perriello says he believes the final vote tally will give him a razor-thin lead, but a lead nonetheless, and that's all he needs to win.  He is traveling around the district today, thanking his supporters at various campaign offices.

Polls showed Perriello down more than 30 points behind Virgil Goode just two months ago.  Perriello believes he was able to close the gap by talking about jobs, especially in places like Martinsville and Danville where his campaign appears to be winning by a wide margin.

"It meant a lot to see that we were winning over votes from Republicans and Independents across the district and started to build the kind of bi-partisan coalition that I think will give me a mandate to go up to Washington and really make a difference for the area," says Perriello.

Perriello says his campaign is an example of old-fashioned politics.  He thinks having volunteers knock on doors in the last days of the campaign helped get his name out and make the race so close. 

He's waiting for every vote to be counted and certified with the State Board of Elections before claiming victory or considering the possibility of a recount.

Certainly this race has revealed the potential for a major upset, unseating a Congressman who's served as the 5th District representative since 1997.

Virgil Goode has watched his lead shrivel away, and now, although it's not finalized, he's on the losing side.

Congress Goode told News7 he's "cautiously optimistic" he'll win the 5th District again.  The numbers he says he's getting in show that he is in the lead, though he would not tell us by how much.

Tuesday night, Goode was clearly hoping to claim victory in front of his supporters at the Smith Mountain Lake GOP headquarters, but still can't do that yet.
 
Again, Goode believes he can still win this race and faults all of the so-called New York money that Tom Perriello used for making this race so close.
 
Earlier Wednesday, the Congressman said he had not started thinking about plans to ask for a recount if things didn't swing  his way, though it looks like he could since according to Virginia State law, only the presumptive losing candidate can ask for a recount.  The difference, however, must be one percent or less of the total vote cast.

UPDATED: 3:05 p.m.

The State Board of Elections now has Tom Perriello at 157,456 to Virgil Goode's 157,425, with 100% of the precincts reporting. 

UPDATED: 2:30 p.m.

The State Board of Elections is now reporting Virgil Goode has 157,421 to Perriello's 157,415 votes, with 100% of the precincts reporting. 

UPDATED: 1:40 p.m.

In an emailed statement, Democrat Tom Perriello said he's confident that when every vote is counted he will unseat Virgil Goode.  "Right now, our focus is on making sure every single vote is counted and every single voice is heard," Perriello wrote. "The results need to be certified and there are provisional ballots that need to be considered."

UPDATED: 12:15 p.m.

During a phone conference with reporters, Virgil Goode said he was pleased to be ahead and believes he will prevail. 

UPDATED: 11:34 a.m.

The State Board of Elections is now reporting Virgil Goode has 157,421 to Perriello's 157,276 votes, with 100% of the precincts reporting. 

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The State Board of Elections is reporting Virgil Goode has 157,421 to Perriello's 156,975 votes, with 100% of the precincts reporting. 

The Associated Press is reporting Tom Perriello is trailing incumbent U.S. Rep. Virgil Goode by 700 votes.  All but one precinct has reported, and absentee ballots totaling more than 2,000 votes were to be counted Wednesday.