RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Democrat Mark R. Herring has widened his lead over Republican Mark R. Obenshain in the nail-biting race for attorney general in Virginia.
A count Tuesday of provisional ballots in Virginia's largest county put Herring 163 votes ahead of Obenshain. The race is likely to head to a recount after the State Board of Elections certifies the Virginia-wide votes.
Herring's campaign claimed victory, but Obenshain issued a statement saying he would wait until the state certifies the results on Nov. 25.
In a seesaw race, Herring's unofficial lead slipped to 106 votes out of 2.2 million ballots cast on Nov. 5, according to unofficial results from the State Board of Elections.
But after Fairfax County election officials counted provisional ballots Tuesday night, Herring claimed an additional 160 votes to Obenshain's 103, giving him the unofficial statewide lead of 1,103,778 votes to Obenshain's 1,103,615 votes.
Midnight is the deadline for ballots to be certified by local election boards.
