Virginia Democratic Sen. Mark Warner apparently won re-election Tuesday, barely holding onto his seat in a shockingly close election in the commonwealth. However, Republican challenger Ed Gillespie won’t concede the race, as the returns show the two candidates just a half percentage point apart.
Warner, the former Virginia governor, declared victory over the former chairman of the Republican National Committee Tuesday. With more than 2 million votes cast in Virginia, Warner held a roughly 12,000-vote lead over Gillespie.
“We are going to be patient here and be respectful of all the voters,” the Republican said in remarks late Tuesday. It is not clear whether Gillespie will seek a recount.
Under Virginia law, the losing candidate can seek a recount when the vote difference is “not more than 1 percent of the total vote cast for the two such candidates.”
Despite his extensive Washington connections and plenty of outside money backing his campaign, Gillespie initially struggled to gain momentum in a purple state that backed President Obama in 2008 and 2012. But Republicans insisted in recent days that Gillespie would pull out an upset in the race — and the razor-thin results validated their optimism.
A loss for Warner would have been a devastating setback for Democrats. Thanks largely to previous Obama campaigns, Virginia Democrats deployed one of the most extensive ground-game efforts nationwide and Warner enjoys nearly unparalleled name recognition in the state.
Warner was dogged by accusations late in the race of offering a state senator’s daughter a federal judgeship in exchange for staying in the state Senate, as was Virginia Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s office.
Warner framed himself as the rare Democrat capable of courting Republicans and producing bipartisan legislation.
The Virginia senator wasn’t exactly an easy target, either. Warner won his 2008 Senate contest by more than 30 points.
