Creigh Deeds wins Virginia governor's primary
State Sen. R. Creigh Deeds won Virginia's three-way Democratic primary for governor Tuesday with shocking ease, defeating a former Clinton White House insider and a former legislative colleague.
The victory sets up a Deeds rematch with Republican Bob McDonnell, who beat him in the 2005 attorney general election by 323 votes.
McDonnell is a conservative with strong ties to religious broadcaster Pat Robertson. He was unopposed for the GOP nomination.
In other races, former Virginia Finance Secretary Jody Wagner won the lieutenant governor primary over first-time candidate A. Michael Signer.
Deeds, the only Democrat in the race not from the Washington, D.C., suburbs, piled up surprisingly large margins across the state, including the northern Virginia region that rivals Terry R. McAuliffe and Brian J. Moran call home.
McAuliffe called Deeds at 8:06 p.m. to concede the race and congratulate him.
