Martinsville Bulletin, Inc.
P. O. Box 3711
204 Broad Street
Martinsville, Virginia 24115
276-638-8801
Toll Free: 800-234-6575
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Fifth District U.S. Rep. Virgil Goode, who ran for a seventh term in the House on Tuesday, looks over campaign buttons with Randy Smith of Martinsville at the city GOP headquarters Tuesday night before returns started coming in. Goode was locked in a tight battle with Democrat Tom Perriello. (Bulletin photo by Mike Wray) |
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
By MICKEY POWELL - Bulletin Staff Writer
The race for the 5th District congressional seat was running extremely close Tuesday night as Democratic political newcomer Tom Perriello led longtime incumbent U.S. Rep. Virgil Goode Jr. by less than a 1 percent margin.
Final results were not available as of 11:30 p.m. However, tallies on the Virginia State Board of Elections’ Web site showed Perriello leading in the district race with 152,687 votes (50.06 percent) while Goode trailed with 152,130 votes (49.88 percent) as of 11 p.m.
Perriello could not be reached for comment. Goode said he remained optimistic that he would win the race, but he emphasized that not all precinct results from throughout the district were in.
“We’re anxiously awaiting the results,” he said.
Goode attributed the close race to the “large amount of New York money that came in” to Perriello’s coffers and negative campaign advertising.
Unofficial election results showed that 5th District voters in Henry County favored Goode, R-Rocky Mount, but those in Martinsville favored Perriello, a lawyer and national security analyst from Albemarle County.
In Henry County, Goode received 9,094 votes and Perriello received 6,843. Perriello received 3,933 votes and Goode received 2,480 votes in the city, election results show.
Voter turnout in Tuesday’s election was 71 percent in both Henry County and Martinsville and 72 percent in Patrick County.
Henry and Patrick County voters preferred Republican Sen. John McCain for president while those in Martinsville favored Democratic Sen. Barack Obama.
In Henry County, McCain, of Arizona, had 13,757 votes while Obama, of Illinois, had 11,116. McCain garnered 5,489 votes in Patrick County while Obama received 2,879, election results show.
But in Martinsville, Obama and his vice presidential choice, Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, received 4,134 votes while McCain and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, received 2,309 votes, according to election results.
Democratic former governor Mark Warner was favored in each locality to fill the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Sen. John Warner. The preference was by wide margins over Republican former governor Jim Gilmore.
In Henry County, Warner won 17,549 votes while Gilmore won 8,551. Warner won 4,578 votes in Patrick County while Gilmore won 3,220. In Martinsville, Warner won 5,256 votes and Gilmore won 1,092, unofficial results show.
Incumbent 9th District U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, ran unopposed. The 5th District includes Martinsville and part of Henry County. The 9th District includes part of Henry County and all of Patrick County.
In Stuart, incumbent Mayor James McHone Jr. was re-elected, having ran unopposed in the mayoral race.
Five Stuart Town Council seats were up for grabs, but there were only five candidates. Each of them — Dale Firebaugh, Patsy Musick, Richard Puckett, Jason Turner and Ray Weiland — was elected, unofficial results show.
Tuesday’s elections results will not become official until after county and city electoral boards conduct canvasses today. |
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