Congressman Moran Wins 12th Term in U.S. House

Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Moran secured another term in office, soundly defeating Patrick Murray, Jason Howell and Janet Murphy in the 8th Congressional District. 

"Tonight was a vindication of the President's efforts to get our country back on track after the worst recession in our nation's history," Moran said in a statement released late Tuesday night. "Tim Kaine will be our next Senator, a good, decent man who will serve the commonwealth with great distinction. Our nation faces major challenges that demand solutions. We owe it to the American people to come together and work toward reaching the kind of compromise necessary to get the country again moving forward."

This is the second consecutive time Moran has defeated Murray.

Moran will be a minority in the Republican-led House of Representatives.

By 1 a.m. Wednesday, Rep. Moran had 63.4 percent of votes with 96.3 percent of the 8th Congressional District precincts reporting. 

These are final, unofficial results from the State Board of Elections; absentee and provisional ballots had not been counted as of 1 a.m. Wednesday. Additionally, in Fairfax County, the Mount Eagle Precinct (408) had not reported results by 1 a.m. Wednesday.

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UPDATE - 10:54 p.m. - Rep. Jim Moran has secured 63 percent of the vote with more than 79 percent of 8th Congressional District precincts reporting. At this point, Patrick Murray has 31.7 percent, Jason Howell has 3.3 percent, Janet Murphy has 1.8 percent. 

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UPDATE - 9:50 p.m. - With 88 of 162 precincts reporting (54.3 percent), Rep. Jim Moran is retaining his solid lead tonight and is headed to near-certain victory. Moran has 61.5 percent of the votes so far. Patch will update the results tables below when all results are in.  

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UPDATE - 9:18 p.m. - Several news outlets are projecting that the Republicans will retain control of the U.S. House of Representatives, which means Rep. Jim Moran will remain in the minorty should he win tonight. 

There are now 61 of 162 precincts (37.6 percent) reporting across Virginia's 8th Congressional District, and Moran has 61.0 percent of votes. 

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UPDATE - 8:46 p.m. - According to the Virginia State Board of Election, 23 percent the relevant precincts are reporting and Rep. Jim Moran has 61.27 of the votes. Patrick Murray has 32.37 percent of the votes. 

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UPDATE - 7:40 p.m. - The Virginia State Board of Elections has decided to pause reporting until at least 8 p.m.

"In consultation with officials from both the Republican and Democratic Party, the Virginia State Board of Elections has agreed to pause reporting until 8:00pm to ensure voters are not unduly influenced by preliminary results. Results will commence shortly thereafter," according to an SBE announcement. 

Patch will update the tables below with updated results when they become available.

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Original post - 6 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012

U.S. Congressman James P. Moran faced a familiar challenger Tuesday: Republican Patrick Murray, who ran against the 11-term member of the U.S. House of Representatives two years ago.

Murray, a retired U.S. Army colonel, told Patch he decided to run again because potential voters had to get to know him. He now has better name recognition.

The two also faced Jason Howell, an Independent from Arlington, and a candidate from the Independent Green Party.

In the last few weeks leading up to Election Day, Moran faced a scandal involving his son Patrick Moran, who resigned from the campaign after a video of him surfaced talking about how to possibly skirt voting laws. 

"I don't condone the actions of the right wing organization in question, but I recognize that this incident is teaching Patrick a tough lesson early in life," Jim Moran said in a statement.

The incumbent outraised his competitors, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Moran raised a little more than $1 million, Murray raised about $196,000 and Howell raised about $17,500. There were no campaign finance reports on file for Murphy.