Nye declares victory; Drake won't concede

Democrat Glenn Nye has declared victory in the race for the 2nd District with U.S. Rep. Thelma Drake.

Nye appears to have enough of a lead - just less that 8,000 votes - to claim the seat, but even in his victory release Nye says that he wants to make sure that all the ballots coming from military men and women overseas have to counted. If he wants to win again in two years in the veteran-heavy district with includes Fort Monroe and Ocean Naval Air Station - he'd be wise to keep stressing that point.

Drake says she won't concede until absentee ballots are counted.

Here's the text of Nye's release:

Hampton Roads, VA--This morning the AP, CNN and other news media have called the Second District Congressional race for Glenn Nye. The final vote was 52%-48% according to CNN. With his record of service in Iraq and Afghanistan and his bipartisan approach, Nye won in every city in the district and outperformed President-elect Barack Obama.

"We have accomplished what many thought was impossible. Now the real work begins," said Nye. "Throughout this campaign, I have stood in the tradition of Republican Bill Whitehurst and Democrat Owen Pickett, who successfully represented our district with their bipartisanship and common sense. Today that great tradition has come back to Hampton Roads and next year we will take that bipartisan approach to Washington."

"I believe that if we work together--Republicans and Democrats and Independents--we can bring about the changes we need in Washington and in Hampton Roads," Nye concluded.

As the remaining absentee ballots continued to be tallied, Nye stressed the importance of counting every vote--particularly those of members of the military serving overseas.