Optimism was in the air as several hundred people gathered at Charlottesville’s Kardinal Hall – prepared to celebrate victory. State Senator Creigh Deeds had spent part of his day at the polls.
"In the precincts where college students live, to see the number of students out working the polls and coming to vote – that’s interesting, because those are the kinds of voters who generally vote only in presidential years. This year they were voting."
Political pundits had declared the race a toss-up, so Perriello supporters Pat Smith and Paola Christy were hopeful.
"Nauseously optimistic," said Smith who tried to stave off memories of past electoral disappointment.
"My birthday is November 5th. I can remember all those birthday moments when it was like this is the worst birthday ever," Christy recalled.
By 11 pm, Perriello was down by several thousand votes, but the candidate vowed to keep counting, having won the seat by a narrow margin in 2008.
"I know a little something about close elections.I know a little something about elections that don’t get decided the night of, and I’ll tell you what – those elections have worked out pretty well for me in the past," he told the crowd. "I’m not going to do the full thank yous tonight, because we’re going to continue to be counting tonight, but there’s one person I can’t help but thank for her belief through all of this – my mother Linda Perriello."
Mrs. Perriello, a woman in her 80’s, had reportedly baked 250,000 cookies for her son’s supporters, and he claimed the campaign had given voters a real choice.
"They felt like there was nothing but cynical and corrupt politics in Washington, DC and people looking out for themselves," he explained. "Every single time we showed up together, we created a ripple of hope."
Throughout the evening, the crowd was cheered by other wins for Democrats in Georgia and North Carolina, Texas, Ohio and South Carolina.
And one young voter – Aaliyah Montego – vowed to stay involved in politics and advocacy.
“If I’ve learned anything over the past couple of years it’s that history will repeat itself if we don’t take the stand to prevent that from happening.”
But by midnight Perriello trailed by more than 5,000 votes in a district that had been redrawn since 2008 and more heavily favored Republicans.
