Updated: November 26, 2013, 5:45 PM.
State Sen. Mark Obenshain (R) will request a recount in the Virginia attorney general race on Wednesday.
Obenshain’s campaign released an advisory Tuesday afternoon that the state senator would formally request a recount the next day.
Lawyers with Obenshain’s campaign plan to hold a conference call Wednesday morning to discuss the process for a recount.
The announcement comes a day after the state Board of Elections certified that state Sen. Mark Herring (D) won the race by a slim 165 votes. Obenshain, after the certification, said he would consider a requesting a recount.
Because the margin of victory was within 1 percent of the total vote, Obenshain or Herring can request a recount.
Herring’s campaign released a post saying Obenshain was in his right to call for a recount.
“It is within Senator Obenshain’s right to pursue electoral victory to an ultimate conclusion beyond the original count, canvass and certification,” “His tactics, however, will not impede our efforts to build the finest team to serve all Virginians in the Office of Attorney General or prepare for the 2014 legislative session.”
Since election night when it became clear the margin in race would be extremely close, Herring’s campaign has simultaneously declared victory while supporters sent fundraising emails in case Obenshain called for a recount.
The tight attorney general race has often been compared to the 2005 Virginia attorney general race where Democrat Creigh Deeds trailed Bob McDonnell by 323 votes. McDonnell won that race after the recount, slightly increasing the number of votes. If Herring emerges victorious in the the recount, he will be the first Democrat in 20 years to hold the Virginia attorney general office.
