RICHMOND -- There were no balloons, no cheering throng of supporters, and no televised victory speech when Republican Bob McDonnell became the winner of the election for attorney general on Wednesday.

But, after enduring a painstaking recount of the closest statewide election in Virginia history, McDonnell preferred finality to fanfare.

McDonnell became the official winner Wednesday night when a three-judge panel in Richmond Circuit Court certified his 360-vote victory over Democrat Creigh Deeds. The judges signed a court order certifying the outcome shortly after state election officials completed a methodical recount process. Deeds phoned McDonnell to congratulate him at 7:15 p.m., about an hour before the judges signed off on the results.

"It's been a long ride," McDonnell said as he waited for the judges to wrap up the process. "I'm glad it's over."

The recount affirmed a victory that McDonnell had first claimed on the day after the Nov. 8 election. Deeds petitioned for a recount after returns certified by the state Board of Elections showed McDonnell winning by 323 votes. More than 1.94 million Virginians cast ballots in the contest. In the end, McDonnell had 970,981 votes to Deeds' 970,621.

Since Election Day, McDonnell, 51, has endured a locality-by-locality canvassing process that diminished his apparent victory margin, then a recount process that involved extensive legal maneuvering by lawyers for both candidates.

Election officials throughout the state retabulated results from voting machines on Tuesday, and some conducted manual recounts of paper-based ballots at the direction of the judges overseeing the recount. Election officials conducted another check of the results on Wednesday in the basement of a Richmond Courthouse, operating under the watchful eyes of lawyers and volunteer observers for the two candidates.

McDonnell won a key procedural victory in advance of the recount when the presiding judges denied Deeds' request to run all paper-based ballots -- more than 500,000 of them -- through processing machines. Deeds' lawyers argued that a first run of optical-scan and punch-card ballots may not have recorded every vote for attorney general.

McDonnell's lawyers countered that rerunning paper-based ballots could open the door for errors and affect the integrity of the results. The judges ultimately allowed hand recounts of optical-scan ballots in 10 precincts where machines failed to process some ballots.

The recount process expanded McDonnell's victory margin by 37 votes. But McDonnell said Deeds and the voters were entitled to the recount to preserve public confidence in the election process. The state-financed recount will cost more than $100,000 and leave each candidate saddled with legal fees of at least twice that amount.

"It's not about the number of votes, it's about the fairness and accuracy of the election," said McDonnell, a Virginia Beach resident who served 14 years in the House of Delegates.

McDonnell said the recount required "an extraordinary team effort" by his staff and volunteers who assisted with the process.

McDonnell will be sworn in on Jan. 14 in Williamsburg along with Democratic Gov.-elect Tim Kaine and Republican Lt. Gov.-elect Bill Bolling.

McDonnell, with the help of a transition team, has been preparing to take office since the election. He is scheduled to speak to the staff in the attorney general's office this morning and hold a press conference to announce the appointment of his chief deputy.

Deeds, a state senator from Bath County, came within an eyelash of winning the race despite being outspent by a margin of almost 2-to-1 and despite trailing McDonnell in public opinion polls throughout the campaign. Deeds, 47, issued a statement Wednesday thanking supporters and looking ahead to the remainder of his term in the Senate

"This whole experience has been humbling and gratifying for me," Deeds said. "I spent the last two years on the road, visiting every nook and cranny of the commonwealth, listening to and learning from Virginians wherever I went. Today, I know Virginia, its people, its enormous assets and its problems, far better than I did when I started this campaign."

McDonnell said Deeds congratulated him during a brief phone call and inquired about McDonnell's oldest daughter Jeanine, who is serving with the U.S. Army in Iraq.

"He was very gracious," McDonnell said.