Perriello anxious to get things rolling

By Sarah Arkin

Published: November 21, 2008

Though results from the Nov. 4 election won’t be officially certified until Monday, Tom Perriello is jumping headfirst into his role as the presumptive congressman-elect for the 5th District.

Perriello said congressional leaders are moving fast to integrate new members and get things rolling for a new administration.

“There’s definitely a strong sense of urgency right now,” he said Friday.

There’s been a real effort of bringing the incoming Democrats and Republicans together, Perriello said.

“We see a kindred spirit across the aisle of wanting this to be an era of accountability and results,” he said.

Of three incoming Democrats who wound up with incredibly close races on Election Day, Perriello, who has a 745-vote lead over incumbent Congressman Virgil Goode, is the only one party leaders are treating as an official winner, The Associated Press reports. Party leaders aren’t quite treating Mary Jo Kilroy of Ohio and Charlie Brown of California as officially elected members yet.

Perriello, on the other hand, voted on party leadership positions this week and engaged in discussions about upcoming legislation.

One major topic of discussion weighing heavily on the new administration is what to do about the collapsing U.S. auto industry. Perriello said he didn’t think a vote would be coming quickly and said many things needed to be taken into consideration.

“This needs to be an era of accountability, not an era of bailouts,” he said. “We’re going to have to innovate our way out of this problem. If we do move towards any sort of bailout, we need to make sure that it’s focused on Main Street, not Wall Street.”

On a lighter note, Heard on the Hill, the gossip section of the congressional daily newspaper Roll Call, named Perriello the most eligible bachelor of the incoming class.

If Perriello holds onto his 745-vote lead when ballots are certified Monday in Richmond, it would give him a victory by less than 1 percent, opening the doors for a recount request. Goode has 10 days in which to request a recount.

Danville Registrar Peggy Petty said a few weeks ago that if a recount does happen, official results will probably not be known until December.

Contact Sarah Arkin at or (434) 791-7983.