Democrat Mark Warner is the apparent winner in the U.S. Senate race.
As of Wednesday morning, Republican challenger Ed Gillespie has received a total number of votes within 1 percent of Warner’s total. Nine precincts have yet to report.
Warner currently has 1,066,783 votes (49.12 percent) across the state, while Gillespie has 1,049,524 votes (48.33 percent).
The other candidate on the ballot, Libertarian Robert Sarvis, received less than 3 percent of the votes with 53,414 (2.46 percent).
If the vote total between Warner and Gillespie remains at less than 1 percent, Virginia law would allow Gillespie to request a recount. If he wishes to do so, he must request the recount within 10 days.
In the Historic Triangle, Gillespie won the majority of votes in James City and York counties, while Warner won in Williamsburg. Tuesday also saw Republican incumbent Rob Wittman coast to a victory for the U.S. House of Representatives seat representing the Triangle.
Gillespie picked up 14,394 votes (54.39 percent) in James City County to Warner’s 11,566 (43.71 percent) and Sarvis’ 474 (1.79 percent). In York County, he netted 12,120 votes (58.88 percent) to Warner’s 7,956 (38.65 percent) and Sarvis’ 490 (2.38 percent). In Williamsburg, Warner received 2,466 votes (62.96 percent) to Gillespie’s 1,360 (34.72 percent) and Sarvis’ 88 (2.25 percent).
In James City County, Warner won Grove and a sliver of the county that borders the City of Williamsburg. Gillespie won much of the rest of the county, scoring wins in precincts that include Kingsmill, Ford’s Colony and Stonehouse.
Gillespie won all of York County except the Magruder precinct, an area that includes neighborhoods off Penniman Road and Merrimac Trail. All of the City of Williamsburg went for Warner.
Warner was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2008. Prior to that, he served as governor of Virginia from 2002 to 2006.
