This year’s elections were full of surprises. The victory of Democratic candidate Tom Perriello over incumbent Virgil Goode in Virginia’s Fifth District Congressional race was certainly one for the books. At least, Politico thinks so.
The news blog ranked the "Top 10 Political Upsets of 2008," and in the midst of Mike Huckabee winning the Iowa Republican caucus, Kay Hagan unseating incumbent Senator Elizabeth Dole in North Carolina and the recent victory of Anh “Joseph” Cao for Louisiana Second District against William Jefferson, the "Perriello versus Goode" bout found its place close to the top.
And Politico gets nice and local in its numbers. “When all the ballots were cast, counted and then recounted, Perriello’s strong margin among the progressive-minded university community around Charlottesville helped propel him to victory by less than 1,000 votes,” writes Alexander Burns of Politico.
Perriello won with a 727-vote edge over Goode.
According to Politico, even liberal bloggers who supported Perriello "conceded" that he was a longshot.
