It looks like Virginia Dems stopped the bleeding in Virginia. After seeing Rick Boucher, Tom Perriello, and Glenn Nye go down in flames, it appears they will hold on to the 11th by 981 votes.
The Washigton Post is reporting Fimian will concede today.
The Richmond Times Dispatch is also reporting a concession.
As is Politics Daily.
And NBC Washington.
And the Hill.
You get the idea…
Keith Fimian put up a heck of a fight and should be commended for running a positive, jobs oriented race while fending off slimeball tactics from the Connolly campaign. It’s back to the drawing board for 2012. Let the speculation begin on the next candidate!
** Below is the statement just released by Keith Fimian:
After much discussion with friends and supporters, I have decided not to pursue a recount and not to further investigate possible discrepancies in the election results. Therefore I congratulate Congressman Connolly on his victory and send him good wishes as he moves forward to do the people’s business. For me, today is the end of this campaign.
The past year has been a terrific experience and I am better off for having gone through it. I want to thank my family, my supporters and my friends, old and new, for standing with me throughout the campaign. I believe the Commonwealth of Virginia and our nation are better off for the issues that were debated.
From the start of my campaign to this day, I believe the major issues facing America are our economy and the out-of-control spending and mountains of debt that our government is leaving for future generations. While I fell short in the election result, it is clear that the people of Northern Virginia, and across America, share my concerns and want their elected representatives to address those concerns.
For myself, I look forward to spending time with my family and growing my company.
The election in Virginia’s 11th congressional district was one of the closest in the nation. Over 220,000 votes were cast, and less than 1,000 votes separate the two candidates. Under Virginia law, I can request a recount after November 22. The Commonwealth of Virginia will conduct another canvass of the election results before that. If the results change significantly, I hold open the option of revisiting my decision.
Many of my friends and supporters have asked me to contest the race to the legal limit. The decision not to seek a recount is not one that I have made lightly. On one hand, it is fundamental to the very integrity of our government that every voter has faith that their vote was counted. Elections like this one are precisely why we have a recount law in the first place. Politicians and others who claim victory prematurely disregard the law governing Virginia’s elections and our rights under it.
On the other hand, over the past several days I have been reviewing the election returns closely. A recount only seeks to arrive at an accurate tally of all votes cast. In our race, we have not seen any obvious errors in the results. And while we believe that there are a small number of ballots containing votes that have not yet been counted, we are confident based on the canvass that it is not enough to change the outcome of this contest.
To be clear, a recount would not take into consideration any issues relating to the fair conduct of the election, such as problems with the touch screen voting machines or long lines due to broken voting equipment. To pursue those issues would be even longer, more drawn out and more expensive. While all of these issues potentially could affect the result of the election it is by no means clear that, even in the aggregate under the most favorable of circumstances, they would change the outcome.
I want to thank the Fairfax County, Fairfax City and Prince William County Republican committees for their fantastic efforts on my behalf. I also want to thank local electoral boards and election officers for all of their efforts. I am appreciative of their work to ensure every vote cast was counted accurately and fairly.
Finally, I want to especially thank all of my supporters again for everything they have done. I am deeply humbled and truly honored to have had such dedicated and unwavering support from so many over the course of this campaign. I will forever be grateful.
