Dem appears to win recount in key Virginia race by single vote. House of Delegates now 50-50.

[RandySF]

Virginia Democrats have claimed at least half the seats in the state House of Delegates after a recount on Tuesday, giving the party a seat at the table in the lower chamber for the first time in two decades.

In a recount Tuesday, Shelly Simonds (D) gained a net of 11 votes, enough to hand her victory over incumbent Del. David Yancey (R) by a single vote. Simonds' win in the 94th district, which covers part of Newport News city, makes hers the 16th Republican-held seat that Democrats picked up in last month's elections.

The new result will leave the House of Delegates split at 50-50, erasing Republicans’ slim 51-49 margin after the November elections, with one recount pending.


In that recount, in the 28th district, Republican Bob Thomas leads Democrat Joshua Cole by 82 votes. The contest was marred by an error that handed a small handful of voters ballots from the wrong district, and Democrats have threatened legal action.

Democrats won all three state executive offices in November, by wider than expected margins.


http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/365664-dem-appears-to-win-recount-in-key-virginia-house-race-by-single-vote

Link to tweet

[Blue_true]

1. Good news. Reenforced the importance of voting wisely. nt

[yardwork]

2. Your vote counts!

[Awsi Dooger]

3. Great news

And that's an easy way to win your next race by 1000x the prior margin

[D_Master81]

4. so...

so VA went from Repubs w/ super majority to Dems being in power in 1 election? I dont think I've ever seen anything like that at the state level. Hopefully we'll begin to see this more over the next couple of elections.

[onenote]

5. Not exactly, but close.

In the House of Delegates,it's a 50-50 split. There is no tie breaking procedure. In the State Senate, the repubs have a narrow majority. And the Democrats control the Governorship. So I wouldn't say Democrats are in power, since the repubs in the state senate could block bills sponsored by Democrats. But the Democrats in the House and the Governor can block republicans bills. It will be interesting to see if the two parties can find some common ground.