By James Irwin
Democratic Sen. Mark Warner's lead over Republican challenger Ed Gillespie has settled at nearly 17,000 votes. The re-election bid of Rep. Julia Brownley (D-Calif.) against Jeff Gorell (R) is still too close to call. And in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Del. Donna Christensen (D) trails, but may be heading to a run-off in the race to become the next governor of that U.S. territory.
The three George Washington University alumni, part of a cohort of GW graduates running for new terms in elected office Tuesday, were still unsure of their political futures as of early Thursday afternoon.
Sen. Warner, B.A. '77, has the clearest path forward as he attempts to keep his seat as U.S. senator from Virginia. The incumbent holds a small, but significant lead over Mr. Gillespie, 1,071,283 votes to 1,054,556 votes, according to The Washington Post. Sen. Warner declared victory Tuesday night, but Mr. Gillespie did not concede. Mr. Gillespie may ask for a recount once the votes are certified by state election officials, a process that election officials expect to complete by Nov. 24, The Post reports. Virginia allows the losing candidate to ask for a recount if the margin is less than 1 percent. The current margin is 0.8 percent.
In the race to be the representative of California’s 26th District, Rep. Brownley, B.A. ’75, led Mr. Gorell by fewer than 600 votes as of Thursday. Vote-by-mail ballots that came into polling places on Election Day are being counted, according to a CBS Los Angeles affiliate. Ventura County has 28 days to certify the election, after which point either candidate may request a recount.
Del. Christensen, M.D. ’70, attempting to become the first black woman to be elected to govern a U.S. state or territory, trailed in her race against Kenneth Mapp according to unofficial results published late Wednesday by the U.S. Virgin Islands Election System. The Virgin Islands Daily News reports there are votes still uncounted. Mr. Mapp, according to the unofficial tally, has not accumulated enough votes to secure a majority, meaning he and Del. Christensen, the top two vote getters in a five-way race, could be heading for a run-off within the next 10 days.
