RICHMOND, Va. – Republican challenger Daniel Gade says he is not conceding the race for a U.S. Senate seat, despite media outlets projecting a win for incumbent Sen. Mark Warner.
In a campaign party speech, Gade slammed the Associated Press for calling the Senate race when polls closed at 7 p.m.
“A couple of years ago I would have never believed there was something called fake news. I never would have though it and then President Trump taught us about fake news, didn’t he? Then we saw it in first person tonight because at 7:01 the AP, hello AP... The AP called this race, with zero percent reporting. The AP said Warner's gonna win it in a walkover. Well, I got something for you AP. You better walk it back. Because here's the current status with 42% of the vote in. I am up in Virginia by 250,000 votes.
As of 12:15 a.m., the Virginia Board of Elections is reporting Warner with a 50.38 (1,593,173) lead on Gade 49.62% (1,569,237). that is approximately 67% of the expected vote. The total does not include a number of the votes cast before Election Day.
"We all know there's a whole bunch of votes out there to be cast," said Gade. But just like I can see to nothing when I was in combat, just like I conceded nothing in the hospital. And just like all of us conceded nothing this entire race, I concede nothing and I'm coming for you Mark Warner."
CBS 6 reached out to the Warner campaign. They declined comment on Gade’s refusal to concede.
Stay with CBS 6 for the latest on this developing story.
