Democrat Don Beyer Proclaims Victory in 8th District Seat in Congress

Democrat Donald S. Beyer Jr. proclaimed victory Tuesday night in his race for the 8th congressional District seat before all of the results were in, but the numbers proved him right.

He won handily, with nearly 63 percent of the vote.

Here’s the unofficial results from the State Board of Elections with 100 percent of the precincts in the 8th District reporting:

• Don Beyer (D) 127,981 62.95%
• Micah Edmond (R) 64,175 31.56%
• Gwendolyn Beck (I) 5,420 2.67%
• Jeffrey Carson (L) 4,403 2.17%
• Gerry Blais (I) 962 0.47%
• Write In 375 0.18%

Beyer proclaimed victory Tuesday at about 8:25 p.m. in a speech before supporters at the Doubletree Hotel in Crystal City before results were available.

He succeeds Congressman James P. Moran Jr., who has represented Northern Virginia’s 8th congressional District for the past 24 years, and was by his side Tuesday night. Early in the year Moran announced his retirement from Congress.

Democrats Beyer, Sen. Mark Warner and Congressman Gerry Connolly and their friends, family and supporters were gathered Tuesday night in Arlington at the Crystal City Doubletree Hotel.

Beyer owns several auto dealerships in the area and is a former lieutenant governor and U.S. ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Beyer lost a race for governor in 1997 against Republican Jim Gilmore.

His main opponent in the race was Republican Micah Edmond, 41, an African American former Marine who often notes his Jewish faith when speaking to audiences.

The 8th district includes Arlington County, the cities of Alexandria and Falls Church, and a large part of eastern Fairfax County.

PHOTO: Don Beyer greeting voters Tuesday morning; photo by Rob Krupicka via Twitter