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GOP attorney general candidate Bob McDonnell will move into Democrat Creigh Deeds says he will continue to prepare to take office in case recount results show he is the winner. |
RICHMOND--As election workers wrap up a canvass of the votes in the state's attorney general's race, the margin between Republican Bob McDonnell and Democrat Creigh Deeds appears to be less than 500 votes.
The canvass will officially end today, but as of yesterday McDonnell had 446 more votes than Deeds. That's less than three-hundredths of a percent, as Deeds pointed out yesterday in a news conference.
Deeds intends to call for a recount, although he can't officially do so until the votes are certified on Nov. 28. After that, a recount could take up to three weeks. But with such a razor-thin margin of votes, Deeds said he wants to make sure every vote is counted.
"This election is so close it could go either way," he said. "We don't know who the attorney general is."
McDonnell, however, thinks it's him. He intends to move tomorrow into the transition office that's available for the next attorney general. To do that, he has to get the keys from the state.
Told of McDonnell's plans, Deeds said McDonnell has "got to do what he thinks he needs to do."
But, Deeds said, possessing the transition office won't change any votes.
"It's premature for anybody to assume anything about this election," he said. "I don't think that moves the ball forward one iota. Maybe it makes him feel better. Tell him not to waste any money on paint."
After Deeds' news conference, Gov. Mark Warner, a Democrat, decided that office space will be made available for both McDonnell and Deeds in the state office building on Ninth Street in Richmond.
That will be handy for both campaigns, as the state Board of Elections office is in the same building.
Deeds said Larry Framme, former chairman of the Democratic Party of Virginia, will lead his recount legal team. He also named a head of his transition team in case he does win.
"It doesn't do for me to just sit back and wait for the votes to be counted," Deeds said. "I've got to be ready to be attorney general."
McDonnell's spokeswoman, in a news release yesterday afternoon, called that "political grandstanding.
"The results are clear. Bob McDonnell has won the race for attorney general," said McDonnell campaign manager Janet Polarek. "It is surprising that a candidate who announced a recount team and lost after the certified results from each locality were turned in would announce a transition team."
Framme and Deeds said they trust the electoral process, but that human error is inevitable, especially in the hubbub of election night. Already in the canvass, Deeds' tally has increased by about 3,000 votes.
He expects the vote numbers to change even more during a recount, which will require election workers to go back and look at the voting machines. In the canvass election workers just re-tally the numbers written down on election night.
"You can guarantee one thing--votes will change," said Framme, who was involved with Virginia's last statewide recount, in the 1989 governor's race.
Since then, many localities have upgraded their voting machines. This recount will be the first done in Virginia with the new machines, Framme said.
To reach CHELYEN DAVIS:
Email: cdavis@freelancestar.com
