Twenty-nine days after Election Day and two days after his opponent declared victory, Democrat Charlie Brown conceded defeat Wednesday in Northern California's 4th Congressional District race.
In a letter e-mailed to supporters Wednesday afternoon, Brown wrote: "A short time ago, I called Senator Tom McClintock to congratulate him on a hard fought victory, and to wish him well in Congress."
Brown, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who championed veterans issues, trailed McClintock by fewer than 1,800 votes in the heavily Republican district, which stretches from the Sacramento suburbs to the Oregon border.
Two years ago, Brown narrowly lost to Republican Rep. John Doolittle, who is retiring from his 4th Congressional District seat amid an FBI probe into his ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Before Wednesday, Brown had declined to concede the race, declaring that thousands of ballots were still uncounted and he was "committed to ensuring a fair and accurate count where every voice is heard."
But in his letter Wednesday, Brown said he was satisfied that, with "more than 370,000 votes tallied, the outcome of this election is no longer in question."
He offered his "deepest gratitude" to supporters and said his campaign "transformed the 4th District" and "built a coalition of change agents that transcended partisanship."
In McClintock's victory speech to supporters in Roseville on Monday, he commended "Charlie Brown and his supporters for waging one of the most hard-fought campaigns that I've ever faced."
The conservative lawmaker, who won in a congressional district 400 miles from his state Senate seat in Thousand Oaks, also claimed credit for turning back a "liberal wave that swept over America and lapped at the edge of this district."
Call Peter Hecht, Bee Capitol Bureau, (916) 326-5539.
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