State Sen. Mark Obenshain (R) will consider whether to call for a recount in the Virginia attorney general race over the next few days, the Obenshain campaign said Monday.
The Obenshain campaign’s statement came shortly after the Virginia Board of Elections certified the election results which showed state Sen. Mark Herring (D) barely winning the race by just 165 votes, well within the margin required for Obenshain to call for a recount.
Read the Obenshain campaign statement, from campaign manager Chris Leavitt, below:
With the completion of the State Board of Elections vote tally, this initial count shows the narrowest percent vote differential of any U.S. statewide race in the 21st century and the closest statewide election in modern Virginia history. We’re all grateful for the election officials and volunteers across Virginia who have worked overtime as this tabulation of votes is completed. As it currently stands, the 165 vote margin out of more than 2.2 million votes cast is well within the margin that could be potentially closed in a recount. There have been four statewide elections in the U.S. since 2000 that finished within a 300 vote margin. In three of those four statewide elections the results were reversed in a recount.
Over the next few days, we will continue to review these results. Margins this small are why Virginia law provides a process for a recount. However, a decision to request a recount, even in this historically close election, is not one to be made lightly. Virginia law allows ten days to request a recount. We will make further announcements regarding a recount well within that time, in order to ensure the closure and confidence in the results that Virginians deserve.
