Democratic Sen. Mark Warner was declared the winner of Virginia’s U.S. Senate race Tuesday evening before a single vote appeared in the publicly reported results, according to an election update published by The New York Times.
The Associated Press called the contest for Warner over Republican challenger Bert Mizusawa while the results dashboard still showed zero votes counted for either candidate.
The unusual sight immediately raised questions about how news organizations can declare winners before releasing any actual vote totals.
The Times’ election tracker displayed Warner as the winner, accompanied by an explanation that the Associated Press had made its determination using polling information and other election data rather than reported ballots.
At the time of the update, the dashboard showed 0% of votes counted statewide.
Warner, a three-term Democratic senator and former Virginia governor, was seeking another six-year term against Mizusawa, a retired Army major general making his first bid for elected office.
The contest had attracted considerably less national attention than several competitive Senate races, with Warner entering Election Day holding a substantial fundraising advantage.
Republicans nevertheless nominated Mizusawa, a military veteran who previously served in senior national security positions, to challenge the longtime Democratic incumbent.
Warner has represented Virginia in the Senate since 2009 and serves as vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
His Republican opponent emphasized his military background and national security experience throughout the campaign.
While the early declaration may appear unusual to voters expecting to see actual ballots counted before a winner is announced, the Associated Press has an established process for calling certain races immediately after polls close.
The news organization does not necessarily wait for election officials to release their first vote totals when available information indicates that one candidate has a decisive advantage.
Instead, its election team evaluates polling, historical voting patterns, demographic information and other available evidence before determining whether a candidate has secured the race.
Those projections are separate from the official counting process conducted by state and local election authorities.
In Virginia, polls were scheduled to close at 7 p.m. Eastern time Tuesday.
The Associated Press had identified Warner as the expected winner in its preelection analysis, reflecting the Democrat’s longstanding political presence and advantages entering the contest.
Virginia has also shifted toward Democrats in recent statewide federal elections, although Republicans continue to compete for congressional seats and other offices.
For Mizusawa, the election represented an attempt to unseat a Democratic incumbent who has spent nearly two decades in Washington.
His campaign focused on national security, government spending and concerns facing Virginia families.
Warner, meanwhile, campaigned on his Senate experience and his work on intelligence and national security issues.
The early race call does not mean ballots were skipped, discarded or left uncounted.
Election officials must still process ballots, report vote totals and complete the certification process regardless of when a media organization projects a winner.
Likewise, the absence of reported votes on an election website does not mean voters had not already cast their ballots.
The distinction is significant because election-night projections are decisions made by news organizations, not official declarations by state election authorities.
For viewers following Tuesday’s results, however, the Virginia Senate contest offered an eye-catching example of how quickly a race can be called.
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