Dem McAulliffe squeaks out a win in Virginia governor's race

TYSONS CORNER, Va. (AP)

Democrat Terry McAuliffe has been elected Virginia’s next governor, defeating Republican Ken Cuccinelli after pledging to expand the state’s Medicaid rolls and portraying his rival as someone who would turn back years of progress.

McAuliffe received 47 percent to Cuccinelli’s 46 percent, with 97 precincts reporting.

Turnout for Tuesday’s election was low, and both candidates worked through Election Day to reach as many potential voters as possible.

McAuliffe, who once led the Democratic National Committee and is a confidant of former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton, said he would expand Medicaid to provide health coverage for 400,000 people under the federal health care law. By contrast, Cuccinelli, the current attorney general, vehemently opposed the law and tried to cast the election as a referendum on President Barack Obama’s signature legislation.

The McAuliffe-Cuccinelli race was widely considered a bellwether for the 2014 midterm elections, when control of Congress is up for grabs.