Declaring that he had turned back a "liberal wave that swept over America and lapped at the edge of this district," conservative Tom McClintock claimed victory Monday in Northern California's 4th Congressional District.

Despite McClintock's assertion that it is impossible for Democrat Charlie Brown to overcome a deficit of more than 1,500 votes, Brown declined to concede.

With county election officials facing a deadline today to finish counting ballots, Brown continued to raise questions about disqualified provisional and absentee ballots and said he remained "committed to ensuring a fair and accurate count where every vote is heard."

Secretary of State Debra Bowen has until Dec. 13 to certify the election results. But in a victory speech to supporters in Roseville, McClintock said eight of nine counties in the district have finished counting ballots and that his victory will stand.

"The votes have been counted," McClintock said, adding: "The count is over. The election is over."

McClintock, a veteran California lawmaker who ran for Congress 400 miles from his state Senate seat in Thousand Oaks, led with 50.3 percent of the vote to 49.7 percent for Brown in one of California's most stoutly Republican districts.

With his wife, Lori, at his side, McClintock said Monday his family is now shopping for a house in the district, which includes Placer and El Dorado counties and stretches north to the Oregon border.

Despite the slim margin, McClintock, a vociferous critic of big government who voted against virtually every state budget and passed few pieces of legislation in 22 years in office, thanked voters for affirming his principles by sending him to Congress.

"When the final votes were counted, it was the people of the 4th Congressional District that made the decision to stand by our traditional American principles of individual freedom and limited government," McClintock said.

The 4th District race attracted national attention with an open seat created by Rep. John Doolittle's decision to retire amid an FBI investigation into his ties to disgraced Washington, D.C., lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

In a district it had long ignored as unwinnable, the Democratic National Congressional Committee bankrolled a blitz of television commercials to aid Brown, who narrowly lost to Doolittle two years ago.

Brown, a decorated Air Force veteran, touted his family's military résumé and blasted McClintock as an "obstructionist" career politician trying to find a job after being termed out in the state Senate.

McClintock, who prevailed in a costly, combative primary fight over former Sacramento-area Rep. Doug Ose, campaigned for oil drilling and against gay marriage while attacking Brown for participating in protests against the Iraq war.

During the campaign, McClintock also assailed Congress and the Bush administration for a $700 billion rescue package for financial markets. On Monday, he told reporters Monday that he will fight efforts to inject additional taxpayer money into the economy, including plans by President-elect Barack Obama to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on infrastructure projects.

"I would be very concerned if this new administration continues those policies," McClintock said. "My advice to the new administration is to get government off of our economy's back. Restore to the people the freedom to succeed, the freedom to prosper."

McClintock, who said he hasn't spoken with Brown, said he wasn't bothered by the Democrat's reluctance to concede the race.

"I know what it's like to lose a close election. It hurts like the dickens," said McClintock, who commended "Charlie Brown and his supporters for waging one of the most hard-fought campaigns that I've ever faced."

"I'm not going to second-guess Charlie or his campaign," added McClintock, who cited one of his favorite statesmen in offering solace. "I have always found great consolation in Winston Churchill's words. He said politics are just as interesting as war and much more exciting. Where in war you can be shot dead only once, in politics it can happen "many times."

Call Peter Hecht, Bee Capitol Bureau, (916) 326-5539.