FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog

Democrat Charlie Brown conceded defeat Wednesday in Northern California’s 4th Congressional District race, 29 days after Election Day and two days after opponent Tom McClintock declared victory.

In a letter e-mailed to supporters Wednesday afternoon, Brown wrote: “A short time ago, I called Senator Tom McClintock to congratulate him on a hard fought victory, and to wish him well in Congress.”

There will be no recount and McClintock can move on to Washington.

Hold onto your hats, folks. A lifelong conservative is about to hit DC.

In front by almost 1,800 votes with all but El Dorado County certifying Nov. 4 election results, 4th congressional district Republican candidate Tom McClintock held a victory press conference Monday.

Democratic Party candidate Charlie Brown has polled 183,840 votes to the GOP candidate’s 185,615 – a 1,775- vote difference.

“The liberal wave that swept over American lapped at the edges of this district but it was here in the 4th District of California that the wave was turned back,” McClintock said. “When the final votes were counted, the people of the 4th congressional district made a decision to stand on the traditional American principles of individual freedom and limited government – and it will be my distinct honor to carry that message to the 111th Congress of the United States.”

Brown issued a statement Monday saying he “remains committed to ensuring a fair and accurate count where every voice is heard and will be evaluating the results over the next 24 to 48 hours to determine if any additional action is warranted on the part of our campaign.”

The difference between the two candidates is just less than half of a percentage point. A recount is possible, although McClintock used two state elections as benchmarks against extending the count – where candidates were separated by fewer votes and fewer percentage points that the 4th District election but were not moving forward with recounts.

Speaking at Roseville campaign headquarters to an audience of supporters flanked by regional media representatives, McClintock made a formal statement of victory. Counts over the past three weeks have increased his lead by more than 1,000 votes over election-night totals..

Looks like this race is over, despite Charlie Brown’s reluctance to concede.

Watch the video of McClintock’s victory declaration.

Here is the text:

Many years ago a wise friend of mine, Larry Arnn – now President of Hillsdale College — told me that if you stand on principle, you’re going to lose some elections and those that you win, you’re not going to win by much.  But those elections that you do win are going to mean something.

And that is certainly true of this election.  The liberal wave that swept over America last month lapped at the edges of this district, but it literally was in the 4th Congressional district of California where that wave was turned back.

When the final votes were counted, it was the people of the 4th Congressional District who made the decision to stand by our traditional American principles of individual freedom and limited government, and it will be my distinct honor to carry that message to the 111th Congress of the United States.

The long election count has required that we compress the transition period into just a few weeks.  I had the opportunity to meet with John Doolittle in Washington the week before last.  I want to thank him and his staff for their extraordinary cooperation in making this a smooth transition.

I want again to congratulate Charlie Brown and his supporters on waging one of the most hard-fought campaigns I have ever faced.  As I said last Wednesday, there can be no doubt of the sincerity of their views or the dedication with which they pursued them.  No one knows better than I do how difficult it is to lose a close race, and I hope it is a consolation for them to know that they made a truly superb effort.

I’ve asked my wife, Lori, to join us for this press conference.  She is the one who kept our family going during a brutal primary and general election.  At least I got to fight back – she had to take it and then have to put up with me when I got home each night.

And I want to thank all those who made this victory possible – those who so selflessly donated so much of their time; those who so generously contributed the resources to get our message out; and our campaign staff who worked impossibly long and difficult hours.  It is the close elections in which EVERY effort becomes decisive – and it is those elections that make a candidate acutely aware of the trust and confidence that has been placed in his hands.  It is a lot to live up to, and I will do everything in my power to be worthy of it.

But most of all I want to thank the voters of the 4th Congressional District who have stood with me in this election.  Thank you for the stand that you have taken.

You have been heard around the country: that there are many communities throughout our nation where Americans will NOT abandon the founding principles of our nation.  And it is from these communities that we will now begin the fight in Congress to restore them as the foundation of our national policy.

I am honored – deeply honored – to have your charter to deliver this message to the Congress of the United States – and I will do everything within my power to see that your voices are heard and that our freedoms are restored.

Congrats Tom!

By the way, Nacny Pelosi is just going to love Tom………

State Sen. Tom McClintock’s campaign on Friday surged to nearly a 1,800-vote lead in the tight congressional battle against Democrat Charlie Brown, perhaps sealing victory in the foothill district.

“We’re not claiming victory, but we just think it’s mathematically impossible for (Brown) to win,” said Bill George, spokesman for McClintock.

George said the thousands of Placer County votes tallied Friday stretched McClintock’s lead from barely 300 votes to 1,793, with only about 4,500 more votes to count in the nine-county district.

Brown spokesman Todd Stenhouse said Brown would not concede, noting that thousands more votes remain to be counted, most of which are provisional ballots that “have been breaking very, very strongly for Charlie.”

“We remain committed to the same goals that we’ve been committed to all along and that is that every vote is counted in this historic election,” Stenhouse said.

McClintock who has been in Washington D.C. attending freshman orientation will return to California this evening or tomorrow in all likelihood with a new job - member of Congress.

Stay tuned…….

The latest batch from Nevada County dropped us by 60 votes, partially offset by a 30-vote gain out of El Dorado County, leaving us with a lead of 592 today.  Nevada County is rapidly running out of ballots – we estimate it has roughly 1,000 yet to count.  Everything else – approximately 25,000 more ballots — are from counties that we are carrying.

Butte and Placer counties comprise 23,000 of those ballots and are expected to release their numbers in a single batch when they complete their full counts later this week or early next.  In short, the fat lady hasn’t begun singing yet, but she’s on stage and appears to be wearing a McClintock button.

And, in the race to replace Tom McClintock in the California State Senate, apparently the Fat Lady has already sung.

Our lead has now widened to 1,283 votes out of 326,395 counted, or 0.39 percent.  We are now taking 50.20 percent of the votes counted and need 48.49 percent of the remaining 42,500 ballots.

Nevada County reported 1,950 additional votes today, of which we received 45.79 percent – well above the 42.52 we had on Election Day.  This loss was more than offset when Sacramento County reported 491 additional ballots counted, of which we received 54.17 percent of the vote (up from 53.10 on election day); and El Dorado County processed an additional 5,573 ballots, of which we received 52.79 percent (up from 50.34 on election day).

Team McClintock estimates there are 8,600 ballots remaining to be counted in counties where McClintock’s opponent, Charlie Brown, has had the lead and 33,900 ballots remaining from counties where McClintock leads.

Better to be ahead than behind…..

Stay tuned……

As of late afternoon (yesteerday, Tuesday) there have been no changes in the reported count – we are still ahead by 1,092 votes, or 0.34 percent out of 313,384 votes counted.

We expect the bulk of Nevada County’s votes to be reported tomorrow, where we could lose as many as 1,500 votes.  Nevertheless, we are seeing better performance with the late absentees than we saw on election night in every county – including Nevada – and if that keeps up, our numbers should bounce back fairly rapidly.  Based on the precincts yet to be counted, chances are very good that our lead should start widening from our low point when Nevada comes in.  If we stay out of negative territory with that vote, victory should be within sight.

Stay tuned……