2013 Virginia Attorney General election

See also: 2013 Virginia elections

The 2013 Virginia Attorney General election took place on November 5, 2013, to elect the Attorney General of Virginia. The incumbent Attorney General, Republican Ken Cuccinelli, did not run for re-election. He was instead his party's nominee in the 2013 gubernatorial election.

2013 Virginia Attorney General election

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Nominee Mark Herring Mark Obenshain Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,105,045 1,104,138 Percentage 49.91% 49.87%

County and independent city results Congressional district results Precinct results Herring:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Obenshain:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Tie:      50%

Attorney General before election Ken Cuccinelli Republican Elected Attorney General Mark Herring Democratic

On May 18, 2013, a Republican state convention in Richmond nominated State Senator Mark Obenshain over State Delegate Rob Bell.^[1] The Democratic primary on June 11, 2013, was won by State Senator Mark Herring, who defeated former Assistant United States Attorney Justin Fairfax.^[2]

While the statewide elections for governor and lieutenant governor garnered more national attention, the race for attorney general was the most competitive.^[3] Obenshain had an election night lead of 1,200 votes. In the following days, as provisional ballots were counted, Herring narrowed the lead and ultimately overtook him.^[4] On November 25, the Virginia State Board of Elections certified the results and Herring was declared the winner by 1,103,777 votes to 1,103,612 – a difference of 165 votes out of more than 2.2 million cast, or 0.007%.^[5][6][7]

After the certification, Obenshain requested a recount,^[8] which began on December 16.^[9] Obenshain conceded the election on December 18, and later that day, the recount ended with Herring winning by 907 votes, or 0.04%.^[10] Democrats held the Attorney General's office for the first time since 1994, and with Herring's victory, Democrats held all five statewide offices – including both U.S. Senate seats – for the first time since 1970.

Republican nomination

Main article: 2013 Republican Party of Virginia convention

Candidates

Nominated at convention

• Mark Obenshain, state senator^[11]

Defeated at convention

• Rob Bell, state delegate^[12]

Withdrew

• John Frey, Fairfax County Clerk of the Circuit Court^[13]

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

• Justin Fairfax, former Assistant United States Attorney^[14]
• Mark Herring, state senator^[12][2]

Withdrew

• Michael Signer, attorney and candidate for lieutenant governor in 2009^[15]

Declined

• Ward Armstrong, former Minority Leader of the Virginia House of Delegates^[16]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Justin Fairfax	Mark Herring	Other	Undecided
Public Policy Polling[17]	May 24–26, 2013	322	± 5.5%	19%	22%	—	59%

Results

Results by county:

Herring

•   Herring—80–90%
•   Herring—70–80%
•   Herring—60–70%
•   Herring—50–60%

Tie

•   Tie

Fairfax

•   Fairfax—50–60%
•   Fairfax—60–70%
•   Fairfax—70–80%
•   Fairfax—80–90%

Virginia Attorney General Democratic primary, 2013^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Mark Herring	72,861	51.66%
	Democratic	Justin Fairfax	68,177	48.34%
Majority			4,684	3.32%
Turnout			141,038

General election

Endorsements

Mark Herring (D)

Current and former statewide politicians

Newspapers

• The Virginian-Pilot^[19]
• The Washington Post^[20]

Organizations

• Virginia Police Benevolent Association^[21]

Mark Obenshain (R)

Elected Officials

• Bill Chase, independent Culpeper County Supervisor^[22]
• Marty Williams, former Republican state senator^[23]

Others

• John Brownlee, former United States Attorney for the Western District of Virginia and 2009 candidate for the Republican nomination for Attorney General^[24]

Newspapers

• Richmond Times-Dispatch^[25]
• The Roanoke Times^[26]

Organizations

• Virginia Fraternal Order of Police^[27]

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[28]	Lean D (flip)	October 24, 2013

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Mark Obenshain (R)	Mark Herring (D)	Other	Undecided
Public Policy Polling[29]	November 2–3, 2013	870	± 3.3%	45%	47%	—	8%
Christopher Newport University[30]	October 25–30, 2013	1,038	± 3%	45%	43%	—	12%
Public Policy Polling[31]	October 26–27, 2013	709 EV	± 3.6%	42%	54%	—	3%
Hampton University[32]	October 24, 26–27, 2013	800	± 2.9%	45%	39%	—	16%
Washington Post/Abt SRBI[33]	October 24–27, 2013	762	± 4.5%	46%	49%	—	4%
Roanoke College[34]	October 21–27, 2013	838	± 3.4%	35%	46%	—	20%
Christopher Newport University[35]	October 8–13, 2013	753	± 3.6%	46%	45%	—	9%
Watson Center[36]	October 1–6, 2013	886	± 3.1%	42%	45%	—	14%
Roanoke College[37]	September 30–October 5, 2013	1,046	± 3%	38%	35%	—	26%
Hampton University[38]	September 25–29, 2013	800	± 2.9%	41%	37%	—	23%
University of Mary Washington[39]	September 25–29, 2013	559	± 4.7%	42%	36%	6%	16%
Washington Post/Abt SRBI[40]	September 19–22, 2013	562	± 5%	42%	45%	—	14%
Conquest Communications[41]	September 19, 2013	400	±5%	35.8%	24.5%	—	39.8%
NBC/Marist[42]	September 17–19, 2013	546	± 3%	34%	39%	—	26%
Roanoke College[43]	September 9–15, 2013	874	± 3.3%	31%	33%	—	34%
Public Policy Polling[44]	July 11–14, 2013	601	± 4%	36%	38%	—	25%
Roanoke College[45]	July 8–14, 2013	525	± 4.3%	33%	29%	—	38%
Public Policy Polling[17]	May 24–26, 2013	672	± 3.8%	32%	33%	—	34%

Hypothetical polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Mark Obenshain (R)	Justin Fairfax (D)	Other	Undecided
Public Policy Polling[17]	May 24–26, 2013	672	± 3.8%	32%	30%	—	38%

Initial results

Virginia Attorney General election, 2013^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Mark Herring	1,103,777	49.89%	+7.60%
	Republican	Mark Obenshain	1,103,612	49.88%	−7.63%
	Write-in		4,892	0.22%	+0.13%
Majority			165	0.01%
Turnout			2,212,281
	Democratic gain from Republican		Swing

Recount

It was widely reported that a recount was expected after the results were certified on November 25, 2013. According to the Virginia Board of Elections rules, as updated for the November 2013 election: "there are no automatic recounts. Only an apparent losing candidate can ask for a recount, and only if the difference between the apparent winning candidate and that apparent losing candidates is not more than one percent (1%) of the total votes cast for those two candidates."^[46] This race is the second of the past three Virginia attorney general elections to go to a recount. In the 2005 race, Bob McDonnell won by 360 votes, with the result certified in December.^[47]

Results

Virginia Attorney General election, 2013^[5][10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Mark Herring	1,105,045	49.91%	+7.62%
	Republican	Mark Obenshain	1,104,138	49.87%	−7.64%
	Write-in		4,892	0.22%	+0.13%
Majority			907	0.04%
Turnout			2,214,075
	Democratic gain from Republican		Swing

By congressional district

Despite losing the state, Obenshain won seven of 11 congressional districts, while Herring won four, including one held by a Republican.^[48]

District	Obenshain	Herring	Representative
1st	56%	44%	Rob Wittman
2nd	52%	48%	Scott Rigell
3rd	23%	77%	Robert C. Scott
4th	53%	47%	Randy Forbes
5th	57%	43%	Robert Hurt
6th	64%	36%	Bob Goodlatte
7th	58%	42%	Eric Cantor
8th	29%	71%	Jim Moran
9th	67%	33%	Morgan Griffith
10th	49.999%	50.001%	Frank Wolf
11th	37%	63%	Gerry Connolly

See also

• Politics portal
• Virginia portal

• 2013 Virginia elections
• 2013 Virginia gubernatorial election
• 2013 Virginia lieutenant gubernatorial election
• 2013 United States gubernatorial elections