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Published: November 4, 2008
Updated: November 5, 2008
The race for the 5th District congressional seat was too close to call Tuesday night.
UPDATE: At 11:51 p.m. CNN showed that all counties had reported except Flauvanna and Bedford. Periello has been maintaining lead with a few hundred votes for the past few hours.
At 11 p.m., Democratic challenger Tom Perriello held a 500-point lead in unofficial vote tallies over incumbent Virgil Goode with six precincts in the district left to report.
In Danville alone, there were still 2,700 absentee ballots to be counted.
The race took a couple of twists throughout the evening as the results were announced. At 9:15 p.m., the Associated Press called the race for Goode, despite the fact that Perriello was winning at that time by about 2,300 votes, according to results posted by the Virginia State Board of Elections. Mecklenburg County had yet to report any precincts and Franklin County still had a few to go.
At 9:58 p.m. the Perriello campaign sent out a statement, refusing to concede.
To nobody’s surprise, Franklin County gave a resounding stamp of approval to Goode, a Rocky Mount Republican. Mecklenburg County results, however, started to trickle in showing a fairly even split of votes.
The Associated Press, at about 10:15 p.m., announced it would re-examine the numbers. Minutes later, it withdrew its call for Goode, saying the race was too close to call and it would wait for all votes to be counted.
Goode, a six-term incumbent congressman, has served the 5th District since he was elected as a Democrat in 1996. He had a brief stint as an independent and is now a Republican.
In office, Goode was instrumental in the tobacco buyout bill around 2000. With a seat on the Appropriations Committee, Goode has earmarked millions of federal dollars for development projects in Southside.
He speaks forcefully against illegal immigration and rights for homosexuals and is a strong advocate of the Second Amendment.
Perriello, an Albemarle County native, recently returned to the 5th District after serving as a national security consultant in Afghanistan and a war crimes prosecutor against criminals in Sierra Leone and Liberia. He also has founded faith-based organizations.
Perriello focused his campaign on job creation and economic revival in Southside. He emphasized the need for small business development and converting Southside farmland into alternative energy resources. Perriello also talked about lowering the cost of health care and making it accessible to more people.
In the last few weeks before the election, campaigning got nasty, with both sides crying foul play.
Goode ran a number of television ads attacking Perriello that were deemed false, including saying Perriello opposed offshore drilling, supported gay marriage and was a “New York lawyer.”
Goode challenged Perriello’s ad that said he received the highest rating from the National Rifle Association, when in fact he received the highest rating a candidate can have without ever having voted on the Second Amendment.
Contact Sarah Arkin at or (434) 791-7983.
Reader Reactions
Nothing wrong with different views. We just approach subjects from different angles, that’s all. The $700 billion was opposed by the Republicans. Then they turned around and supported the actual $850 billion bailout! Go figure. What this country needs is a third political party that actually represents the the will of the people, made up of Statesmen instead of politicians.
Mark my words, with the Democrats in place in the White House, and both Houses of Congress, nothing, absolutely nothing will change for the better. Four years from now, you and I will be in the same situations that we are now, or worse. We will be hearing how they just need four more years to complete their plans, followed by another four years to implement them and so on and so forth. Names and faces have changed but it will continue to be the same old story. They will vote themselves more raises and continue to point us to the poor house door, which will be at least as big as a barn door or larger. China and the Middle East will buy American property out from under us, supported by our leaders and leave us standing outside looking in. The government has its priorities straight, they just need to get the little people out of the way!
Have a great weekend, all of you.
Well our wonderful Congressman opposed it as well and look where it got him. People went against him.
I see that we have different views about the role of government in society. I feel that you shouldn’t have to be bankrupted or your credit damaged by hospital bills. The 700 billion dollar bailout of Wall Street could have provided healthcare for everyone for the next 10 years. That was the one thing I expected the Republicans to oppose (I opposed it.)We can socialize big business and banks but talk about socializing healthcare and they label you as a communist and unpatriotic. I just would like to see government get its’ priorities strait.
Agreed. Americans do have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The difference is, YOU have to pursue these rights on your own initiative. They are not supplied to you by the government, nor were they ever intended to be. I speak from experience. I was bankrupted after cancer surgery many years ago. The local hospital nailed me for over $15,000 on top of what they collected from my insurance company just in the last couple of years for 2 surgeries and an ER visit. I haven’t smiled for some time now, but I don’t expect the government to bail me out. I take care of my own problems, without government intrusion or intervention.
Americans have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. How can people live a good life if they are sick and constantly bombarded by medical bills that drive them to bankruptcy? We don’t ask that the government give us everything, just what is our right.
Vindicator, I feel sorry for you when the day comes that you have to choose between medicine and food. I don’t think you will be smilling.
Spoken like a true democrat. Live off the government teat. What private insurance companies cover is at their discretion. Not the government’s. That’s the problem with people today. They have been lead to believe that the government owes them everything. That’s not what government is all about. I am awake and I do think for myself. Healthcare is a priviledge for those who earn it. Not thoe who sit back and expect it or demand it. We probably aren’t going to see eye to eye on this one. <Grin>
Healthcare should be a right, not a privilege for only those who can afford it. If I remember, most private insurance covers children up to age 25 if they are in school. I know I was covered until I graduated college at age 24. I see that Goode supporters believe anything he says without question. Wake-up and think for yourselves!
(love2read) If I remember correctly, that bill was designed to cover children up to age 25. Now even as an under appreciated teacher, you know that a chld becomes and adult at age 18. So did our Congressman, which is the main reason he voted against that bill. Had the language been to age 18, he would have supported it. Common sense has to kick in for some of the members of Congress at some point. Goode was not alone in seeing the faults of the proposed bill. Goode is not anti-children, just anti-stupidity.
Perriello is a true compassionate leader, unlike Goode, that will bring jobs back to Southside. I will never forget how malicious and rude Goode supporters were at the final Danville debate. Goode couldn’t debate the issues. He just tried to make Perriello out to be a scary outsider. Well, the people have spoken. We are tired of the divisiveness. We are tired of the hate and name calling. Perriello will unite our district (for those who want to unite) and bring back the prosperity that we deserve.
well the great “Goode” was not looking out for me when he voted to NO to raising the income limit for the childrens health insurance program the state helps with. I am a teacher with an advanced degree that cannot afford my county’s 900 PER month insurance plan for a family—!! This would have greatly helped my kids—and it would have only paid for a portion of my premium so not a handout! but what does good ol Virgil do—?? votes against it—I guess to be sure his money would not be affected—
and besides if hes not around this county or city all the time maybe I wont be forced to hear him talk—
Go Perriello!
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