Martinsville Bulletin, Inc.
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| He will be congressman by a margin of 727 votes |
Democratic Congressman-elect Tom Perriello talks with reporters Wednesday outside the Albemarle County District Courthouse where the court upheld his election victory over incumbent U.S. Rep. Virgil Goode. (AP) |
Thursday, December 18, 2008
By BULLETIN AND AP REPORTS -
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. |
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