2005 Virginia Attorney General election explained

Election Name:2005 Virginia Attorney General election
Country:Virginia
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:2001 Virginia Attorney General election
Previous Year:2001
Next Election:2009 Virginia Attorney General election
Next Year:2009
Election Date:November 8, 2005
Image1:File:Bob McDonnell by Gage Skidmore.jpg
Nominee1:Bob McDonnell
Party1:Republican Party (United States)
Popular Vote1:970,981
Percentage1:49.96%
Nominee2:Creigh Deeds
Party2:Democratic Party (United States)
Popular Vote2:970,621
Percentage2:49.94%
Map Size:300px
Attorney General
Before Election:Judith Jagdmann
Before Party:Republican Party (United States)
After Election:Bob McDonnell
After Party:Republican Party (United States)

The Virginia Attorney General election of 2005 took place on November 8, 2005, to elect the Attorney General of Virginia. Jerry Kilgore, who had been elected attorney general in 2001, resigned in February 2005 to run for Governor, as is the tradition in Virginia. He was replaced by Judith Jagdmann, the Deputy Attorney General for the Civil Litigation Division, who did not run in the election.

The Republican primary was won by State Delegate Bob McDonnell, who defeated attorney Steve Baril. State Senator Creigh Deeds was unopposed in the Democratic primary. McDonnell won the race by 360 votes, which was so close it required a recount.[1] He was sworn in as Attorney General alongside Governor Tim Kaine and Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling on January 14, 2006.

McDonnell and Deeds went on to rematch in the 2009 Virginia gubernatorial election, which McDonnell won by a wide margin.

Republican primary

The primary campaign was a contentious one.[2] Baril accused McDonnell of bypassing campaign finance laws by taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations from clients he represented in cases in front of state agencies in his dual role as a "lawyer-legislator".[3] McDonnell replied that the allegations were "baseless". Baril promised to be "the people's lawyer" and was endorsed by Eric Cantor. McDonnell, carrying Jim Gilmore's endorsement, cast himself as an experienced reformer.[4]

Candidates

Declared

Results

Democratic primary

Roanoke State Senator John S. Edwards was to challenge Deeds in a primary fight for the Attorney General Nomination for the Democratic Party of Virginia. Edwards, who had won 30% of the vote in the primary in 2001, was considered a viable candidate, but dropped out due to his tough liberal stances on gay rights.[5] After Edwards' withdrawal, Deeds was the only candidate left in the Democratic primary. Running unopposed, Deeds won 100% of the primary vote on June 14, 2005.[6]

Candidates

Declared

Withdrew

General election

Campaign

After securing the nomination due to Edwards' withdrawal, Deeds began positioning himself as a centrist Democrat such as Mark Warner. On June 14, Deeds found out his opponent in the general election would be Bob McDonnell after McDonnell had won the Republican primary.[7] McDonnell, who also positioned himself as a moderate campaigned against Deeds. Throughout early polling, Deeds and McDonnell started the race off tied.

The first poll of the race, conducted by Mason-Dixon showed Deeds at 34% and McDonnell barely ahead with 35% which was inside the margin of error. By the second poll which was also conducted by Mason Dixon, Deeds was behind 33%-36%. Deeds continued to campaign and was endorsed by NARAL in August 2005.[8]

Deeds based his campaign headquarters in Charlottesville, Virginia, which was in his native Senate district. Deeds continued to lag McDonnell in the polls until the endorsement of the NRA. In late September 2005, the NRA unexpectedly endorsed Deeds, the Democrat, over McDonnell.[9] With the new ability to claim himself as a "centrist" Democrat, Deeds had gained much needed campaign momentum.

By late October, Deeds was only 4%-5% behind McDonnell. Heading into early November, Deeds was inside the margin of error with McDonnell, behind 40%-43%. On Election day, it appeared obvious that the race was heading into a recount. Deeds trailed McDonnell by approximately 320 votes.

Polling

width=200px Source [10] width=150px Datewidth=125px Deeds (D)width=125px McDonnell (R)
Mason DixonNovember 1–2, 200540%43%
Roanoke CollegeOctober 23–30, 200534%39%
Rasmussen ReportsOctober 26, 200539%43%
Mason DixonOctober 18–20, 200534%42%
Mason DixonSeptember 13–15, 200533%36%
Mason DixonJuly 19–21, 200534%35%

For the majority of the campaign, Deeds lagged McDonnell from anywhere between 3%-8%. However, in the final weeks of the campaign, Deeds picked up support due in part because of the NRA's endorsement of him.[11] In the final poll taken by Mason Dixon and released on November 3, Deeds was only 3% behind McDonnell.

Fundraising

Deeds lagged considerably in the fundraising race. On Election Day, according to Our Campaigns, the candidates had the following amount of Cash on hand:

Recount

In late November, the Board of Elections certified Bob McDonnell as the winner by 323 votes. However, Deeds announced he would petition the courts for a recount on November 29.[12] The recount was set to last until mid-December.

The recount started later than expected on December 20, 2005, when both campaigns were allowed to comb through ballots to make any challenges.[13] Despite the fact that it was a recount, very few ballots were actually recounted as opposed to both campaigns making challenges to hand-fulls of ballot instead.

On December 22, 2005, however, the Board of Elections confirmed McDonnell the winner of the recount by a 360-vote margin.[14] Despite the fact that the race was one of the closest in history, the recount had actually gained McDonnell exactly 37 votes boosting his margin from 323 votes to exactly a 360-vote lead over Deeds. Deeds called McDonnell at 7:15 that night to congratulate him on the victory.[15]

Final results

After the recount, the final certified tally was as follows:

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Election Recounts in Virginia. The Virginia News Letter. February 2006. April 5, 2009.
  2. http://www.ourcampaigns.com/NewsDetail.html?NewsID=22442 Baril-McDonnell race getting personal [GOP VA Attorney General]
  3. http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2005/052005/05252005/102144 Baril: McDonnell bypassing campaign funding rules
  4. http://ww2.roanoke.com//news/roanoke/24928.html GOP candidates for attorney general trade barbs as primary nears
  5. Web site: Roanoke senator drops statewide nomination. The Roanoke Times. March 4, 2005. April 5, 2009. https://archive.today/20120908051723/http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/xp-19578. September 8, 2012. dead. mdy-all.
  6. Web site: VA Attorney General - D Primary. Our Campaigns. April 5, 2009.
  7. Web site: VA Attorney General Race - R Primary. Our Campaigns. April 5, 2009.
  8. Web site: Naral Pro-choice Virginia Announces Candidate Endorsements for 2005. NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia. August 18, 2005. April 5, 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090106202245/http://www.naralva.org/news/press/200508171.shtml. January 6, 2009. dead. mdy-all.
  9. News: NRA Backs Dem for Va. Attorney General Race. Washington Post. September 30, 2009. April 8, 2009 . The Washington Post.
  10. Web site: VA Attorney General. Our Campaigns. April 5, 2009.
  11. News: NRA Backs Democrat For Va. Attorney General. Chris. Jenkins. The Washington Post. Virginia Sen. R. Creigh Deeds, who is running for attorney general, received the endorsement of the National Rifle Association. September 30, 2005. April 30, 2010.
  12. News: Recount Likely in Attorney General Race. The New York Times. November 29, 2005. April 8, 2009.
  13. News: Recount Starts, but Without Va. Ballots. December 21, 2005. April 8, 2009 . The Washington Post . Carol . Morello.
  14. Web site: Virginia Recount Verifies Win. The Los Angeles Times. December 22, 2005. April 8, 2005.
  15. News: McDonnell Clinches Attorney General Race. The Washington Post. December 22, 2005. April 5, 2009.