Fimian Comes Up Short in the 11th by Alan Moore
After a drawn out affair that lasted an extra week, Democratic incumbent Gerry Connolly took the race in the 11th after businessman challenger Keith Fimian conceded. In one of the closest races in the county this race was filled with voting irregularities bordering on fraud, bizarre attack ads by the incumbent, and a last minute major contribution that probably made the difference. On election night both sides went back and forth sharing the lead as vote totals came rolling in. For most of the night Fimian was leading as the more conservative Prince William County vote came in quicker than that of the more liberal Fairfax County. As the night progressed however, Connolly started to creep into the lead. The night ended without a clear cut winner but Connolly had a lead under 500 votes. As the canvassing proceeded in the next few days it became clear there was no path to victory for Fimian. Adding to the intrigue, two voting machines went haywire that night. Vote total reports from two precincts were suspended until the morning with the machines being locked away in a room at the Fairfax County Government Center. Absentee ballots were not counted until the wee hours of the morning, and provisional ballots were not counted until a few days Afterwards. When all ballots were accounted after canvassing, Connolly led by 981 with 111,720 votes to Fimian’s 110,739. The percentage was 49.22%-48.79%, three independent candidates received a combined 4,187 votes.
Volume 1, Number 8 / November 2010
11 The night ended without a clear cut winner but Connolly had a lead under 500 votes. As the canvassing proceeded in the next few days it became clear there was no path to victory for Fimian. Photo: Fimian for Congress
The following Friday, Fairfax County Republican Committee Chairman Anthony Bedell released a statement indicating some unusual discrepancies in the voting. For instance a number of precincts recorded more votes than the number of voters in the poll books. Also, the voting machines failed to register votes from over 800 voters. An op-ed in the Washington Examiner on November 10th indicated the voting systems were horribly out of date and the same models were decertified by the State of New York.