The Shadow
Republicans Morgan Griffith and Bob Goodlatte were easily re-elected to their congressional seats Tuesday, but the race for one of Virginia’s U.S. Senate seats was still undecided this morning.
Unofficial tallies from the Virginia Board of Elections gave Democratic Sen. Mark Warner a lead of about 12,000 votes over GOP challenger Ed Gillespie.
With 99 percent of pre-cincts reporting statewide, Warner had 1,072,487 votes and Gillespie 1,060,377. Libertarian Robert Sarvis garnered 53,594 votes.
Griffith, a Salem Republican, was easily re-elected to a third term in the 9th District Tuesday with 73 percent of the vote. He was challenged by William Carr, an independent candidate from Patrick County.
Goodlatte won a 12th term in Congress, handily defeating Libertarian Will Hammer of Staunton and Independent Green Party candidate Elaine Hildebrandt of Nathalie.
Virginians also approved a constitutional amendment that exempts from local property taxes the home of the surviving spouse of an armed forces member who was killed in action. The break applies if the property is the primary residence and the spouse hasn’t remarried.
