VA-11

Dem Rep. Connolly Wins VA House Race, GOPer Fimian Concedes

Eric Kleefeld | November 9, 2010, 12:43PM

Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA)

Freshman Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) has narrowly won re-election, and his Republican opponent Keith Fimian has conceded the race.

The most recent figures show Connolly winning by 981 votes, or a margin of 0.43% out of about 225,000 total ballots. Connolly was first elected in 2008, defeating Fimian to pick up an open GOP-held seat, and has now survived a Republican wave year that took out three other Virginia Democrats: Fellow freshmen Tom Perriello and Glenn Nye, plus longtime Rep. Rick Boucher.

"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," Fimian said in a press release. "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."

2010 elections

Two Virginia Dems Go Down -- And It Could Get Worse

Eric Kleefeld | November 2, 2010, 8:56PM

Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA)

It's looking like a bloodbath tonight for Virginia Democrats, with two incumbent Congressmen already going down to defeat -- and possibly more on the way.

The Associated Press reports that Democratic Rep. Rick Boucher of VA-09, who was first elected in 1982, has lost re-election to Republican Morgan Griffith in this southwest Virginia district, after many years of its voters splitting their ticket between Boucher and Republican candidates.

Meanwhile, freshman Democratic Rep. Tom Perriello (D) of VA-05, who upset Republican incumbent Virgil Goode in 2008, has lost to Republican Robert Hurt.

That's not all: Two other freshman Dems, Glenn Nye and Gerry Connolly, both of whom picked up seats from the Republicans in 2008, are currently trailing in their seats. With 44% of precincts reporting in VA-02, Nye trails Republican Scott Rigell by 53%-43%. In VA-11, Connolly trails his 2008 Republican opponent Keith Fimian by a narrower 50%-48%, with 30% of precincts reporting.

Late Update: ABC and CBS have called VA-02 for Rigell. That's three Democrats losing in Virginia, with a possible fourth on the way.