Carly Fiorina concedes defeat in Senate race

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

After monitoring results overnight, Republican Senate candidate Carly Fiorina conceded defeat Wednesday morning after her hard-fought race with Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, stating that she was proud of every moment of her campaign.

Speaking to reporters and a small group of supporters with her husband at her headquarters in Irvine, the former Hewlett-Packard chief executive said the experience had been a privilege and that she had been touched by every person she met across California. She said she ran because she was concerned that attaining the American dream had become too hard for too many people and that she was still worried about out-of-control spending in Washington.

‘We had an exceptional campaign,’ Fiorina said. ‘In the end we could not overcome the registration that Democrats have, and in particular in L.A. County.’

RELATED: Which pollsters called California’s races right?

Fiorina said she hoped her effort would lead Boxer and others in Washington to “redouble their efforts to make sure Americans have the opportunity to live the American dream.”

‘The fight is not over, the fight is just beginning,’ she said.

She did not take questions or discuss her plans for the future.

The two candidates battled for months over the effectiveness of the Obama administration’s programs -- with Fiorina calling for the repeal of the healthcare bill and returning unused stimulus money to the treasury. Fiorina had argued Boxer had been in office too long and had lost touch with her constituents.

Boxer relentlessly argued that Fiorina was a heartless chief executive who had laid off workers and shipped their jobs overseas -- making the case that she would be a champion for millionaires and billionaires rather than the middle class.

In a short speech at her election night party Tuesday, Fiorina criticized networks and newspapers for calling the race based on exit polls and early returns. But she called Boxer early Wednesday morning to congratulate her on her reelection to a fourth term.

Boxer declared her win at her party in Hollywood before midnight Tuesday. She called the race “the toughest and roughest campaign of my life,” adding that it was her “11th straight election victory, and what a sweet one it is.”

RELATED:

Which pollsters called California’s races right?

-- Maeve Reston in Irvine