Democratic challenger Jim Webb tells supporters that he believes late returns will boost him to a comeback victory in Senate race. View More Images from this story Visit the Photo Place

TOO CLOSE TO CALL Challenger Webb grabs slim lead in the bitterly contested Virginia Senate race, but some precincts still out

Webb supporters wait out the returns

By NATASHA ALTAMIRANO

Date published: 11/8/2006

VIENNA--The ballroom in the Sheraton Premiere at Tysons Corner alternately was filled with joyous cheers and nervous anticipation last night as supporters of Democrat Jim Webb waited for returns to come in for Virginia's U.S. Senate seat.

All eyes were trained on two large screens broadcasting CNN election results, which would elicit applause or boos, depending on the percentage precincts reporting.

Webb and Republican incumbent George Allen were in a neck-and-neck race, with returns too close to call at press time.

Webb and his wife, Hong Lee, went on the stage shortly after 11 p.m.

The crowd of several hundred erupted into chants of "We want Webb!"

"We've been following this with great detail upstairs, and when we look at where the votes are that have yet to be counted, it looks very, very good for our side," Webb said, prompting more cheers and shouts of "We want Webb." "This is the kind of spirit that encouraged me to get into this race. It's the kind of spirit that carried us through the primary. It's the kind of spirit that's kept me going for the past nine months."

"It's going to take awhile to count the rest of these votes," Webb said, many of which are absentee ballots or from the 11th District. "There have been a lot of fights in my life. This is nothing new. It's gonna take awhile, but at some point very soon, I think we're gonna be on top."

The candidates were within 2 percentage points of each other throughout the night in one of the nation's closest-watched midterm election races.

If the final count remains within 1 percentage point, Virginia law allows for recounts. Recounts are done at government expense if the difference is less than one-half of a percentage point.

A recount is a difficult but sometimes necessary process, said Virginia Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Bath, who came out to support Webb last night.

"I honestly hope we don't get to that point," said Deeds, who narrowly lost Virginia's attorney general race against Republican Bob McDonnell last November. "It's a tough thing for any candidate to go through. You work so hard to get through an election, and in my case, went through six weeks of limbo before knowing what the result was going to be."

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Date published: 11/8/2006