Sen. Toddy Puller said Tuesday's election results were about what she expected, but elections are never a sure thing.
"It was a spirited contest, but I've had several of those over the years and I guess you don't ever know what's going to be coming at the end," said Puller, a Democrat, who was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1991 and has been a member of the Senate since 2000.
Puller defeated her Republican opponent Jeffrey M. Frederick to win reelection to the Virginia Senate's 36th District, taking 55 percent of the vote.
Fairfax County voters put Puller over the top by 66 percent with 26 percent of registered voters turning out.
In Prince William County, 28 percent of registered voters turned out giving Frederick about 51 percent of the vote, according to results posted at the State Board of Elections website.
Puller lost the Prince William precincts by 238 votes, according to the unofficial results.
"I'm just gratified that the voters went out and decided to support me one more time," Puller said. "They've been supporting me over the years and we got very, very good results in Fairfax and almost won Prince William."
Puller said her first priorities when she returns to Richmond for the next General Assembly will be to tie up some loose ends on the recently passed constitutional amendment giving property tax exemptions to veterans and working on improvements to U.S. 1.
"I'll be continuing to work with Thelma Drake on the transit study of the Route 1 Corridor," Puller said of Drake who is the director of Rail and Public Transportation and former three-term former three-term congresswoman from the Norfolk area.
Another of Puller's priorities will be continuing a working relationship Sen. Richard L. “Dick” Saslaw who will now be the Senate majority leader.
Tuesday's election gave Republicans control of the Senate that had been in Democratic control for years.
"I haven't talked to Dick about shared government, so I'm going to have to see what happens there," she said.
Senior reporter Keith Walker can be reached at 703-369-6751.
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