In latest count, 30 votes separate Goode, Perriello

By Ray Reed

Published: November 4, 2008

Updated 3:19 p.m.

Now, the State Board of Elections says Tom Perriello leads with 157,455 votes to Goode’s 157,425 - a mere 30 votes.

Updated 1:27 p.m.

Both 5th District incumbent Virgil Goode and Democratic challenger Tom Perriello say they have won yesterday’s election.

Virgil Goode has 157,421 votes, or 50.04 percent, the board says, while Tom Perriello has 156,975 votes, or 49.9 percent, according to the State Board of Elections.

Despite Goode’s apparent lead, the difference is slim enough to allow a recount.

However, Perriello told reporters today that he is not yet calling for a recount because many provisional ballots remain to be counted.

In Charlottesville, Perriello said he is confident the provisional ballots will put him over the top because they are typically cast by blacks and young voters.

Perriello said he anticipates the provisional ballots could be fully tallied today or tomorrow. The state Board of Elections could not be reached, and Perriello spokeswoman Jessica Barba said she hasn’t been told how many provisional ballots could be counted.

“I’m not sure if there are hundreds or thousands,“ she said. “We’re confident we came out on top, but we can’t pop the champagne just yet.“

Goode also says he is confident that a final vote count will show he has won the still too-close-to-call election.

“This is a tight election and we are pleased to be ahead,” Goode said in a conference call with reporters. “We are optimistic that when every valid vote is counted, we will prevail.”

-Media General News Service

Updated 10:29 a.m.

The State Board of Elections says all 307 precincts have reported.

Virgil Goode has 157,421 votes, or 50.04 percent, the board says, while Tom Perriello has 156,975 votes, or 49.9 percent.

That is within the standards set by the State Board of Elections for an automatic recount.

Updated 9:31 a.m.

Virgil Goode pulls ahead of Tom Perriello.

The State Board of Elections reports this morning that Goode has 157,070 votes, to Perriello’s 156,768.

There is still one precinct left to report, from Lunenburg County.

Goode said in a statement this morning that the precinct is “reliably Republican.“

Goode is now ahead by 302 votes, pending that precinct’s returns and today’s canvass of votes by local boards of election in each county of the 5th District.

“I am confident that after today’s canvassing by the individual registrars’ office this lead will be sustained,“ Goode said.

-Ray Reed

Political newcomer Tom Perriello and Rep. Virgil Goode finished the night in a dead heat Tuesday in a 5th District election so close its outcome might not be known until election officials review provisional ballots today.

At least two news organizations — CNN and the Associated Press — called Goode the winner early in the night, but backed off those assessments after late returns put the candidates neck-and-neck.

Perriello, a Democrat, and Goode each had about 154,000 votes in a district that, until Tuesday, had given Goode at least 59 percent of its votes in the last six elections.

Perriello, an Albemarle County native, drew his strongest support from the northern part of the district, and also got 58 percent of the vote in Danville, a city that had always given Goode comfortable margins. Perriello also carried Martinsville, where Goode usually does well.

Nelson County, which had given Goode small majorities in his last two elections against Democrat Al Weed, joined Albemarle County and Charlottesville in backing Perriello.

Goode won most of the rural Southside counties that have given him big margins in the past, including Appomattox, Campbell and Bedford counties.

Perriello, a 34-year-old Democrat, had raised $1.5 million to match Goode’s fundraising in a race characterized by attack TV ads, many of them funded by groups outside the 5th District.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee kicked in at least $300,000 of TV advertising aimed at Goode’s record on energy legislation, while a Midwestern group called Our Rural America targeted Goode with ads criticizing his votes on the veterans’ benefits bill and health care.

Goode, in debates and TV ads, presented Perriello as a New York lawyer who opposed drilling for oil in America and also as an opponent of the proposed federal marriage amendment.

Goode also criticized Perriello’s fundraising from New York financiers and other out-of-state sources.

Perriello, in turn, criticized Goode as depending on corporate lobbyists for his campaign financing.

Goode also weathered a storm of publicity about his name appearing in the credits of an art house movie, “Eden’s Curve.” The film about homosexuality was released in 2004 by a Danville filmmaker.

Goode, who opposes special rights for homosexuals, denied knowing anything about the film or why its producer, Jerry Meador of Danville, listed him in the credits.

In a broadcast debate from a Martinsville cable TV station on Monday night, Goode was in full attack mode, describing Perriello’s campaign contributions from New York financier George Soros and claiming that Perriello had accepted lobbyist funds himself.