State Sen. Mark Herring (D)
If you've been following the ongoing post-election recanvass in Virginia's open-seat race for attorney general, you know that things are incredibly, absurdly tight. According to the State Board of Elections'
official count as of Monday afternoon, Republican Mark Obenshain now leads Democrat Mark Herring by just 17 votes ... out of over 2.2 million cast.
As local election officials throughout Virginia have been reviewing their results, Obenshain's edge had continued to narrow. And on Monday, following a retabulation in the heavily Democratic city of Richmond—where votes from a previously uncounted voting machine were incorporated for the first time—Herring appeared to unofficially take the lead.
Indeed, according to the Cook Political Report's Dave Wasserman, who has been assiduously updating his "crowdsource canvass" Google doc, Herring should have a 115-vote advantage once Richmond's new totals are certified to the state. This follows the discovery of nearly 3,000 uncounted votes in solidly blue Fairfax County late last week that also aided Herring.
These frequent shifts, though, underscore that the lead could change hands yet again. They should also serve as a reminder that mistakes happen in elections, which is why carefully taking the time to get things right is so important. And after the entire statewide vote is certified on Nov. 25, the trailing candidate can (and probably will) seek a recount at state expense. So we're a long way off from knowing the winner.
For now, though, Herring and Virginia Democrats have to be feeling pretty good, as the biggest known concerns about missing votes appear to have been resolved. And if you want up-to-the-minute updates on where things stand, you'll definitely want to follow Dave Wasserman on Twitter.
