Tom Perriello was one of the candidates I most wanted to win...but who was definitely a long shot. I figured it was a case of someone I HAD to support because he was so good, but I'd probably lose.

Why did I like him so much? His diplomatic experience was superb and I figure we need some of that right about now. You can read about the context of his diplomatic experience with regards to Sierra Leone in my book review of a book about the Sierra Leone civil war.

Well, with the recount all done, it is now official: Tom Perriello won the Congressional race for the VA-5 district. He won by about 750 votes. Yet ANOTHER example of how EVERY SINGLE VOTE COUNTS, and why YOU should be active in your local politics. You matter!

Here is Tom's comments on officially winning:

Fifteen months ago, I was lying in my parents' front yard in anaphylactic shock, unconscious and not breathing. It was the day I had set as a deadline for deciding whether to get into this Congressional race, and I was helping my parents clear brush in preparation for my sister's wedding reception. About 80-yards deep in the woods, I kicked up a massive yellow jacket nest, and the rest is a blur. I came in and out of consciousness as I crawled to the edge of the woods and collapsed. Just a few weeks earlier, I had been on the ground in Southern Afghanistan, but here I was, facing death in the woods where I grew up.

It was there in the ambulance, on my way to the hospital, that I decided to take the leap of faith and run for Congress. I simply saw no reason to wait for another year of failed politics, fear, and marginal reforms. For too long, my generation had tried to make a difference through the non-profits, but kept hitting up against political games that amounted to rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. To be honest, almost everyone I talked to at first advised me not to run and assured me that Rep. Goode could never be beaten. But the reasons they were offering sold voters short and assumed the election would have to be a referendum on the incumbent rather than a chance to make the case for something better. What we wanted to offer was a people-powered, principled, problem-solving campaign that was not about tearing apart the other side, but rather about leaving behind a failed approach to politics from both sides.
I had a strong sense that 2008 would be a movement year – one of those rare moments where we might have a chance not just to change who was in power, but to transform the rules of politics and expand our sense of what is possible. But as I came to in the ambulance, I could never have imagined how much this year would be defined not by the candidates but by the people who got involved in politics for the first time. I could never have imagined how many all-nighters my underpaid staff would pull, how many hours our network of volunteers across the district would put in, how deep our supporters would dig, and how much I would lean on my family to keep going through a campaign that seemed set never to end. With the recount over, and the margin of victory now final at 727 votes, I know that every hour you put in, every dollar you gave, and every last vote made a difference.

During my recent listening tour through Southside and Central Virginia, I have been meeting with many elected officials who did not vote for me. What they keep saying to me over and over again is how impressed they are with how hard our team worked and how focused we were on a plan for moving forward. The gains in Southside that put us over the top came from making the case at the grassroots level--not through the normal gate-keepers--but now we have a chance to build partnerships that will help us make a real impact in this economy.
I am touched that so many voters took this leap of faith with me. I have been blessed by the generous and consistent support you have all shown to help us pull off one of the biggest political upsets of the year.

And now the next chapter begins. We all sacrificed because we believed that we had a better plan for helping struggling families, creating the new energy economy, and confronting our most serious security threats. We face immense challenges in our district and our nation but also immense opportunities. This is our time to build America's new competitive advantage for a new century through workforce development, infrastructure, and the new energy economy. This is our time for a new justice-based security strategy that invests in our intelligence and diplomatic corps. This is our time for a new era of accountability, from the consumer to the corporate CEO. We are not Democrats or Republicans in this crisis, but Americans, with a common struggle and a common future, and I will work for the common good of the entire district.

I am forever grateful to have the chance to represent the Virginia Fifth in the 111th Congress. And I am going there because all of you made this most improbable of upsets a reality.

Let's welcome the new Conrgessional Rep from VA-5. I know he will do us all proud.