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Recount Decided By One Vote Eliminates Republican Majority in Virginia House

By Chris Deaton

Pending certification on Wednesday, a recount of a Virginia House of Delegates race has resulted in a one-vote win for the Democratic candidate, turning what was once ca 66-34 Republican majority into a 50-50 split.

The commonwealth’s GOP had enjoyed a 32-seat advantage heading into November, but a series of narrow upsets on election night drew the minority party closer to a shocking parity. The closest contest was in district 94, where Republican incumbent David Yancey held a 10-vote lead over Democratic challenger Shelly Simonds, 11,601 to 11,591. As the Washington Post reported, a recount Tuesday shifted the margin to Simonds—11,608 to 11,607.

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The elections occurred the same day that Ralph Northam prevailed over Ed Gillespie in the gubernatorial race, 54 to 45 percent.

As THE WEEKLY STANDARD wrote the day after Election Day in November:

As of Wednesday, a Democrat had flipped a Republican-controlled seat in the following 14 districts, with all precincts reporting to Virginia’s Department of Elections (percentage splits in parentheses): 2 (63-37), 10 (52-48), 12 (54-46), 13 (55-45), 21 (53-47), 31 (54-45), 32 (59-41), 42 (61-39), 50 (55-45), 51 (53-47), 67 (58-42), 72 (53-47), 73 (51-49), and 85 (51-49). A Democrat led in one other district with all votes in, but by less than a one-percentage point margin: the 68th, where it is 326. Per Virginia election law, a candidate who lost by less than one percent of the vote may request a recount. The 68th meets that standard. But with the raw vote totals reported by the elections department fully counted in the aforementioned districts, Democrats have flipped 15 seats—just short of a 50-50 split in the commonwealth’s lower house.

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