Houck campaign: It's not over yet

The 86-vote lead Republican Bryce Reeves held over longtime State Sen. Edd Houck on Election Night had grown by Wednesday afternoon to 226, according to updated records from the State Board of Elections. Nearly 45,000 votes in all were cast in the closely watched race.

But even as Reeves pulled farther ahead, Houck’s camp was not ready to throw in the towel.

“As far as we are concerned, this race is still too close to call,” said campaign manager Craig Bieber, around 5 p.m. Wednesday. “The state has a legal process where everybody’s vote gets counted and we owe it to the voters to ensure their votes are counted fairly and accurately.”

According to Bieber, the overnight change in election results – to Reeves’ favor – resulted from human error at a Spotsylvania County precinct in which numbers were transposed by the state board.

“I got to tell you, if they are having those types of problems and they are not done with canvassing everybody, it is best advised to wait,” he said. “That is what we are going to do. It is not over yet.”

Vote canvassing in Louisa County was not yet complete as of close of business Wednesday, Bieber said. Other district registrars completed the canvassing process, checking vote totals reported Tuesday and opening provisional ballots – paper ballots used when voter eligibility cannot be determined at the polls.

Culpeper County Registrar Michele White said Wednesday Houck gained one provisional vote in Culpeper. Bieber said Houck gained another three provisional votes in Orange and four in Fredericksburg.

Bieber reiterated that they would wait until the canvassing was complete before making any decisions about requesting a recount. He added that he had seen some close elections before, but none this close.

“I think the closeness of the election speaks for itself – that the voters in this district were equally divided,” Bieber said.

Houck, first elected to state senate in 1984, spent much of the day Wednesday retrieving campaign signs from around the district.

It remained unclear if the incumbent would officially challenge the vote count; a request to do so cannot be filed until the state board certifies the results Nov. 28.

Meanwhile, Reeves declared victory just after midnight.

“I am honored to have been chosen to serve as the next state senator from the 17^th District of Virginia,” he said in an email. “This was a hard fought campaign, and I want to thank Edd Houck for his service to our commonwealth.”

The apparent state senator-elect called the campaign over and looked ahead to his first term of office in elected government, representing all of Orange County and the city of Fredericksburg as well as parts of Albemarle, Culpeper, Louisa and Spotsylvania counties.

“I look forward to joining with Gov. Bob McDonnell in Richmond to advance common sense policies that will get Virginians back to work and reform our government to better serve the taxpayers,” said Reeves, an Army veteran, who later worked in law enforcement.

Around the same time, Houck’s campaign sent out an email saying the race was still too close to call.

“We expect Senator Houck will ultimately prevail in the final outcome,” the email said.

Wednesday around 8 a.m., Houck posted to Facebook.

“As I write, the outcome of yesterday’s election is not complete with the proper legal procedures being implemented to ensure all votes are accurately counted to remove any doubt of the final result. What is not in doubt is my heartfelt appreciation for all the support I have received from family, friends and colleagues. All of you have been fantastic! Stay tuned to get the final results.”

Candidates have until Dec. 8 to request a recount.

Political guru Larry Sabato, with the University of Virginia, told the Charlottesville Daily Progress Wednesday that he was not optimistic about Houck’s chances of beating Reeves.

“In my experience, 86 votes are tough to find when you’re looking for them,” Sabato said.

Houck now needs to find 226 votes, according to the latest count.

Sidebar:

Other Culpeper County election results

>>House of Delegates District 18 has a new representative: Republican Michael Webert, a farmer from Marshall. He won Tuesday’s election by 69.4 percent (9,748 votes) over Democrat Bob Zwick (4,260 votes). District 18 spans part of Culpeper County including voting precincts at Brandy Station, Eggbornsville, Jeffersonton and Rixeyville. Incumbent Del. Ed Scott, of the 30^th district, represents the rest of Culpeper County in the House of Delegates. He was unopposed.

>>State Senate District 27 will continue to be represented by Republican incumbent Jill Holtzman Vogel, a Winchester attorney first elected in 2008. This district includes the Jeffersonton precinct in Culpeper County as well as part of Brandy Station.

In Tuesday’s election, Vogel earned 76 percent of the vote (24,535 ballots) to Democrat Shaun Broy’s 7,618 votes. District 27 also includes the counties of Clarke, Fauquier, Frederick, Loudon, Stafford and the city of Winchester.

>>Republican incumbent State Sen. Emmett Hanger, Jr. will continue to represent District 24 in the statehouse. He ran unopposed in Tuesday’s election. His district includes Culpeper voting precincts at Brown’s Store, Cardova, Eggbornsville, Eldorado, Lignum, Richardsville and Rixeyville.

Area election results

>>In Madison County, two-term incumbent Sheriff Erik Weaver easily won over challenger Eugene Metz; Weaver won nearly 60 percent of the vote (2,339 votes) to Metz’s 1,573.

>>In Orange County, one-term incumbent Sheriff Mark Amos beat his repeat opponent even more handily. Amos won 74.1 percent of the vote (6,209 votes) to challenger Donald Brooks’ 2,153.

Meanwhile, two-term incumbent Orange County Commonwealth’s Attorney Diana Wheeler cruised to an easy win over Gil Berger, an attorney who practices in Culpeper. Wheeler earned 65.8 percent of ballots cast (5,184 votes) to Berger’s 2,679 votes.

>>In Rappahannock County, incumbent Sheriff Connie Compton Smith easily defeated opponent Andy Berry, Sr., an officer with the Culpeper Police Department. Smith won 78 percent of ballots cast (1,992 votes) to Berry’s 559.