At 9:08 p.m. last night, Rep. Tom Perriello, D-Charlottesville, announced to his supporters gathered at Siips on the Downtown Mall that he had just finished speaking with State Sen. Robert Hurt, R-Martinsville, on the phone, to congratulate him on winning the 2010 Congressional election for the Fifth District of Virginia.
Perriello was losing by about 9,000 votes as of press time. Overall, this was a slim margin, though it was wider than the 727-vote margin by which Perriello defeated then-incumbent Republican Virgil Goode in the 2008 Fifth District election.
Although Perriello was defeated by a significant percentage in Appomattox, Bedford, Campbell, Greene and Franklin counties, he was victorious in Albemarle County and the cities of Martinsville and Danville. In addition, the incumbent claimed about 80 percent of the votes in the City of Charlottesville.
A sizeable lead in campaign funding failed to tip the scale in Perriello's favor. According to the latest campaign finance reports, Perriello received about $3.4 million in campaign donations while Hurt received $1.9 million.
Throughout the campaign, Hurt and the Republicans tried to draw as many ties as possible between Perriello and officials such as President Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to draw in voters who were dissatisfied with federal policies. As a recent example, Attorney General and University alumnus Ken Cuccinelli referred to Perriello as "Perri-losi" at a Danville rally Monday.
Obama and Perriello also demonstrated close ties during the campaign, especially evident when the president came to Charlottesville last Friday to campaign for the incumbent candidate.
Sherry Kraft, a Perriello campaign volunteer and Charlottesville City voter, said Obama's appearance might have reminded some Republicans of their dissatisfaction with the administration and pushed them to the polls to vote Republican yesterday.
Nevertheless, Kraft said she was confident that Obama's appearance was positive overall for Perriello.
"Obama coming to Charlottesville encouraged more people to vote, especially Democrats," she said. "People who hadn't heard [Perriello] speak were drawn to the event by Obama and had the opportunity to see him speak and interact with voters."
Issac Wood, communications director for the Center for Politics and a former Cavalier Daily columnist, agreed with the assessment.
The Obama visit, Wood said, "likely fired up some Democratic voters but also could have turned off some independents."
Perriello supporters and independent analysts both agree that the Hurt victory is not evidence of local disapproval of Perriello's performance during the last two years. Instead, the Republican win is likely reflective of national dissatisfaction with the nation's current direction.
"Perriello lost because people are sick of the Obama administration and Republicans poured in a large amount of money to vilify Obama and connect him to Perriello," Charlottesville City voter Abe Bennett said.
Similarly, Wood identified the national standing of political parties as the most important factor in the Fifth District election.
During his concession speech, Perriello told volunteers, campaign officials and supporters that in his conversation with Hurt, he made it clear that his entire team would do anything they could to help facilitate Hurt's transition to office in January.
"It has been the great honor of my life to serve the people of Central and Southern Virginia for the last two years, and I've given it everything that I've got," Perriello said.
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