RICHMOND -- Democrat Tim Kaine defeated Republican Jerry Kilgore by a margin of over five percentage points in the race for the Virginia governorship last night.
Kaine received a mandate with 51.7 percent of the vote. Kilgore obtained 46 percent while Independent gubernatorial candidate Russ Potts only received two percent of the vote.
"This has been a difficult race," Kaine said in his acceptance speech. "Thank you for your support. We've done it!"
Campaign officials attributed the win to common progressive values.
"That is a testament to the message of keeping Virginia moving forward, that those localities were able to put partisanship aside," Virginia Democratic Party spokesperson Mark Bergman said.
At the Kilgore camp, Kilgore conceded defeat last night at 10:30 p.m.
Kilgore was introduced by Republican Virginia Senator George Allen, who offered his congratulations to Kaine and said he was very proud of Kilgore and felt a great respect for his campaign efforts. Allen also said the Republican Party will not be discouraged by the loss.
"Where elections come and go, principles endure," he said. "So long as they haven't killed us, we can keep fighting."
Kilgore, in his concession speech, thanked his family and campaign supporters for their efforts.
"Even though the votes did not go our way, I have no regrets," he said.
Kilgore also reflected on what he called his "rural roots," and said he hoped that young people in Virginia would look to his campaign as a positive example.
"It doesn't matter who you are, it doesn't matter where you come from -- in Virginia, anything is possible," he said.
The media and campaign officials both vigorously analyzed why Kaine won Virginia, a traditionally Republican state.
"This [vote] means that Virginians appreciated results of the past four years," Kaine Deputy Communications Director Jeff Kraus said. "They liked being the best-managed state. They like a leader who invests in education. They want to see four more years of the same."
Bergman said he agreed with Kraus.
"This is a great victory to keep Virginia moving in the right direction," he said.
Bob Holsworth, a political analyst for CBS 6 News, attributed the Kaine victory to a combination of both President George W. Bush's unpopularity and Gov. Mark R. Warner's popularity.
One self-described "grassroots" Republican at the Kilgore camp, Joy Eyer, said the Republicans were not able to win the race for governor because they were not communicating their goals properly. National issues such as the war in Iraq continue to affect the party's popularity, she said.
"We are not making the case to the public for the war the way we need to be," she said. "We are not communicating our focus to the American people."
Warner commented on this point when he took the stage with Kaine and other Virginia elected officials during Kaine's acceptance speech. Warner remarked about the comparison drawn by the GOP candidates between management in Richmond and in Washington.
"The other side has said 'Let's compare how things are going in Washington to how things are going in Virginia,'" Warner said. "We'll take that comparison any day."
Kaine used his acceptance speech to thank those who helped him along the way and to re-affirm the campaign promises he had made for the past year.
He said he planned to offer pre-kindergarten education to all four-year-olds, fix the Commonwealth's transportation problems, keep unemployment low, expand economic prosperity to all regions of the Commonwealth and create a program of targeted tax relief for homeowners that is fiscally responsible.
Kaine concluded by thanking his competitors.
"Senator [Russ] Potts ran a very honorable campaign of which he should be proud of," Kaine said. "Jerry Kilgore ran a spirited campaign. He has spent many years in public service, and we should thank him. I may not have always agreed with my opponents, but they are as sincere in their beliefs as I am in mine."
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