Virginia Attorney General Race Update

RNLA Member and leader in the Virginia Attorney General race Mark Obenshain holds a narrow but significant lead in the Virginia Attorney General’s race as I write this blog that he seems likely to keep.  As always State Senator Mark Obenshain remains a class act as his email statement shows. 

Right now, the race is extremely close, but I'm confident that that we will prevail. Elections like this are a reminder of the importance of participating in the Democratic process. We’re going to wait until the State Board of Elections finishes its tabulations, and make any further decisions at that time. But I do want to take this opportunity to thank those who have stood with us as we’ve campaigned across Virginia these past two years, and to thank all of you for your dedication and commitment. We ran a campaign based on a positive plan to solve problems in Virginia, and I’m proud of that.

Meanwhile his opponent took the opposite tact:

Herring for Attorney General campaign manager Kevin O’Holleran released the following statement today:

. . . “When all of the votes cast are counted, including absentee votes and thousands of provisional ballots, we’re confident Mark Herring will be the next Attorney General of Virginia. We have a responsibility to make sure that that every voter is protected and every vote counts,” O’Holleran said.

As Cook Report’s Dave Wasserman states :

Bottom line: There are thousands of votes worth of errors in #VAAG count, but at the moment they're balancing out: https://docs.google.com/a/cookpolitical.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AvOrrxBeaarVdGhvNWZZN2UzUVY1bDVoYW83bWszM1E#gid=0  …

Herring’s provisional ballots argument of “thousands of votes” is a disingenuous canard.  As former RNLA Virginia Chapter Chair Chris Ashby who was one of the lead lawyers in the last Virginia statewide recount for Attorney General in 2005 points out: the small percentage of provisional ballots that count should not change the election results:

In Va AG elect, 1000s of provisionals left but don't expect much net impact. Abt 1/3 will count & they'll break approx same %age as state.

Chris  in his excellent twitter analysis of this election also gives the details of how a recount will work as well:

If Va AG elect gets through canvass & goes into recount, recount would start around Thanksgiving & wrap just before Christmas.

Lastly Chris gives details of what a recount would entail.

By law, recount would consider only ballots actually cast in Va AG elect. Alleged fraud, irregulars, etc. reserved for post-recount contest.

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