WILLISTON, Vt. — Vermont's Republican gubernatorial candidate Brian Dubie is conceding the race to his Democratic opponent Peter Shumlin.
Dubie made the announcement at a Wednesday morning news conference at his Williston campaign headquarters.
His concession came after unofficial results from Tuesday's polling gave Shumlin a lead of about 3,000 votes or about 1.5 percentage points.
As of 9 a.m. Wednesday, Shumlin campaign Manager Alex MacLean says Shumlin hadn't heard from Dubie.
With 89 percent of precincts reporting early Wednesday, Shumlin had 49.4 percent of the vote compared to 47.9 percent for Dubie.
Under the Vermont Constitution, if no gubernatorial candidate receives 50 percent of the vote plus one vote, lawmakers vote by secret ballot when they convene their new session in January.
The close race is all too familiar for Shumlin. He led in balloting in Vermont's five-way Democratic gubernatorial primary but wasn't declared the winner until after a recount.
If vote totals end up within 2 percentage points of each other, a recount could be requested.
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