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RICHMOND, VA, November 5, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Despite a last minute campaign surge that put him within striking distance of the governor's mansion, pro-life Republican Ken Cuccinelli fell behind Terry McAuliffe at the last minute in the 2013 election.

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As off 10:30 p.m. Eastern time with 95 percent of precincts reporting, McAuliffe led Cuccinelli by 25,000 votes, or about one percent of the vote, with heavily Democratic-leaning precincts yet to report.

In the campaign's closing days, Cuccinelli focused on the disastrous implementation of ObamaCare, from the failed HealthCare.gov website, to soaring premiums, to the president's backtracking that “If you like your plan, you can keep your plan.” Virginians will have some of the worst sticker shock in the country, as young people see their insurance rates jump 252 percent thanks to the president's health care overhaul.

The issue lifted him out of a deep deficit in the polls caused by the government shutdown, which deeply hurt his popularity in the northern Virginia suburbs, where many furloughed federal employees live.

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“If he had another week, I think Ken Cuccinelli would win the election,” Republican strategist Kellyanne Conway told Fox News earlier in the afternoon.

McAuliffe's surge came from his massive spending advantage, which his campaign used to run negative ads microtargeting unmarried women. His campaign has teamed up with Planned Parenthood since its earliest days, designing an attack website (KeepKenOut.com), and coordinating mailings fiancned by the abortion giant – to the tune of more than $1 million in one case alone.

The group's support fueled McAuliffe's campaign, allowing him to outspend Cuccinelli by nearly 75 percent.

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Former lieutenant governor John H. Hager told The Washington Post one of the biggest surprises was how wrong pre-election polls were about Cuccinelli's supposed deficit among women.

Observers will debate the role Libertarian Party candidate Rob Sarvis played in the squeaker. The socially liberal candidate, financed by an out-of-state supporter of the Democratic Party, polled nearly seven percent of the vote. Most believe these would have been inclined to vote for the Republican.

The New York Times reported, “McAuliffe benefited from an electorate that was less white and less Republican than it was four years ago. He drew about as large a percentage of African-Americans as President Obama did last year.”

Hispanics also voted heavily Democratic.

In all, it was a dispiriting night for Republicans across the Old Dominion. In the lieutenant governor's race, Democrat Robert Northam defeated Republican E.W. Jackson, an outspoken Christian conservative and African-American bishop. CNN reports that Northam won 90 percent of the state's black vote.

It was not a complete shutout. The GOP's candidate for Attorney General, Mark Obenshain, beat Democrat Mark Herring.

In the other heavily watched governor's race in New Jersey, Chris Christie won in a landslide victory over Democratic state Senator Barbara Buono, garnering nearly 60 percent of the vote.

But the night largely belonged to the Party of Obama.

In New York City, Democrat Bill de Blasio crushed his Republican opponent, Joe Lhota, by a reported 60 percent of the vote.

Boston elected Democrat Marty Walsh its mayor.

The elections took place the same day the Illinois state House passed a bill to redefine marriage. When signed, Illinois will become the 15th state where homosexuals can legally “marry.”