Sen. Warner hanging on to slim lead in extremely close race

Sen. Mark Warner speaks to supporters at an election night gathering in Crystal City. Behind him are Don Beyer, Rep. Bobby Scott, Gov. Terry McAulifff, Sen. Tim Kaine, and Warner’s wife Lisa Collis.

In a mid-term election where many Democrats were defeated nationwide, shifting control of the Senate to the Republicans, Virginians re-elected Sen. Mark Warner in an extremely tight race.

As of Wednesday morning, with results for all but seven Virginia precincts, Warner was ahead of Republican challenger Ed Gillespie by 16,522 votes. The margin was 49.11 percent to 48.35 percent. Independent candidate Robert Sarvis of Annandale got 53,127 votes (2.44 percent).

Gillespie hasn’t yet announced whether he will request a recall. Under Virginia law, he can do so if the margin is 1 percent or less. If the margin is less than half of one percent, a recall is done automatically and the state pays for it.

In a speech to supporters Tuesday night, Warner said, “People are tired of politics as usual” and want to move past sound bites, political bickering, and gridlock. He vowed to work across party lines to get things done.

Voters in the 11th congressional district re-elected Rep. Gerry Connolly (D) with 56.77 percent of the vote. The Republican candidate, Suzanne Scholte, got 40.3 percent.

In the 8th congressional district, Democratic candidate Don Beyer easily sailed to victory with 62.95 percent of the vote, compared to 31.56 percent for Republican candidate Micah Edmond.

The State Board of Elections website is having server problems, so precinct results aren’t yet in.

The $100 million Fairfax County transportation bond passed with Yes votes from 71.85 percent of voters. The proposed constitutional amendment was passed with 87.18 percent of the vote.