Democrat Charlie Brown, running in California's 4th District, conceded the race to Republican Tom McClintock yesterday. After weeks of ballots continuing to trickle in, Brown ultimately trailed McClintock by 1,576 votes out of more than 367,000 votes cast. Brown chose not to ask for a recount, ensuring McClintock's place in the 111th Congress.

This was Brown's second run at the district. In 2006, he came within 3 points of defeating Rep. John Doolittle, whose ties to lobbyist Jack Abramoff made him a vulnerable incumbent, even in this conservative, Northeastern California district. Doolittle's retirement in January was actually a detriment to Brown's chances at winning on his second try.

McClintock, a conservative state senator, took a 15-point victory in the June Republican primary over former Rep. Doug Ose, who represented California's 3rd District from 1998-2004. Through mid-October, McClintock had spent some $900,000 more than Brown, but by the end of the campaign he was low on cash and had no TV advertising for weeks.

Four House races now remain undecided: Ohio-15, Virginia-5, and Louisiana's 2nd and 4th districts. Louisiana's primaries were pushed back due to Hurricane Ike and the general elections were moved to this Saturday, Dec. 6.