Today isn’t just Election Day in Washington; it’s also Election Day in New York, Virginia, New Jersey, Alabama, Colorado, and many other states. The marquee race on the East Coast this year is the matchup between Tea Party Republican Ken Cuccinelli and establishment Democrat Terry McAuliffe in Virginia. This is the contest that cable news networks are focused on tonight, particularly CNN.
As of around 5:53 PM Pacific Standard Time, with 1,725 of precincts reporting, Ken Cuccinelli had a slim lead over McAuliffe. Earlier in the evening, he led McAuliffe by as much as eight points. Not anymore.
Governor of Virginia — as of 5:53 PM Pacific/8:53 PM Eastern
Republican Ken T. Cuccinelli II: 47.52% (649,924 votes)
Democrat Terry R. McAuliffe: 45.22% (618,513 votes)
Libertarian Robert C. Sarvis: 6.96% (95,163 votes)
These numbers will continue to change as results come in. The bottom line is, Cuccinelli is doing well in areas of the state where Republicans traditionally dominate. But if Terry McAuliffe captures the District of Columbia suburbs, he’ll win. The counties that are home to the D.C. suburbs tend to be slow in getting votes tabulated and reported — slower than the more rural counties, anyway.
In the lieutenant governor’s race, Democrat Ralph S. Northam had a comfortable lead over E.W. Jackson, 53.17% to 46.61%, and seems on his way to victory, given that the votes yet to be counted will probably break in his favor.
But Republican Mark D. Obenshain is winning the race to succeed Cuccinelli as Attorney General over Democrat Mark R. Herring, 52.40% to 47.47%. We’ll have to see if Herring can close that gap. It won’t be easy.
Meanwhile, Democrats were faring better in House of Delegates contests than had been expected. Daily Kos’ Steve Singiser has an update on those races:
5:49 PM PT (Steve Singiser): As the night has wore on, the Virginia House of Delegates is showing signs of a better Democratic night than previously thought. Even though most of the leads are infinitesimal, five Democrats are now leading against their GOP incumbents. The good news for DK fans? Three of them are DK-endorsed candidates: Kathleen Murphy (HD-34), Jennifer Boysko (HD-86), and Rob Farinholt (HD-94). Our other two candidates (Atif Qarni and John Bell) are within a handful of points. Two other Democrats: Monty Mason in HD-93 and Elizabeth Miller in HD-32, also had leads.
The race between McAuliffe and Cuccinelli is obviously turning out to be closer than what polling had suggested. But it’s often the case that polls overstate the lead that a frontrunner has, so it’s not too surprising. Virginia has been a Republican or Republican-leaning state for a long time, and has only recently begun to trend Democratic, having now backed a Democrat for president in 2008 and 2012.
