This northern California House district was never supposed to be so close – it’s always strongly favored Republicans.  But McClintock spokesman Bill George says a variety of factors combined to make it a tight race this time around.
 
George: “This was a very unusual year.  We had the Barack Obama phenomenon, which brought a lot of new people to the polls, and we had a lot of economic uncertainty that may have played into it as well.” 
 
But Brown campaign manager Todd Stenhouse says his candidate deserves credit, too.
 
Stenhouse: “We saw people breaking overwhelmingly for Charlie, and we also knew it was gonna be very, very close, potentially within the margin, and that’s exactly what we’ve seen on the ground.” 
 
So now, both sides wait for the rest of the ballots to be counted – possibly until early December.  And since this seat could become another Democratic takeover in Congress, many in Washington are waiting as well.