logo
    • Magazine
    • Membership
    • Donate
  • Racial Justice
  • Economic Justice
    • Collections
  • Climate Justice
  • Health Justice
  • Leadership
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Subscribe
  • Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Complimentary Webinars
    • Premium On-Demand Webinars
  • Membership
  • Submissions

Republicans Retain Virginia House Majority by a Drawing of Lots

Steve Dubb
January 11, 2018
Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print

January 10, 2018; Washington Post

Less than an hour before the Commonwealth of Virginia’s House of Delegates reconvened, Democrat Shelly Simonds, who lost a tied vote for the Newport News-based 94th District in a random drawing, gave up her right to a second recount and conceded the race, reports Laura Vozzella in the Washington Post.

NPQ wrote twice about this unusual election, once when it appeared that Simonds had carried the district by a single vote after an automatic recount was completed in a race that Republican incumbent David Yancey led after the initial poll by a narrow 10-vote margin, and then again when a single ballot that had been declared invalid was reinstated for Yancey, leading a three-judge panel to rule the election result an official tie on a 11,608-11,608 vote.

Simonds’s decision to concede means that the balance in the Virginia legislature is now settled for the new term, 64 days after the election took place. As a result, Republicans retain a 51-49 majority in Virginia’s lower house, still a major shift from the nearly two-thirds majority they held before last November’s election. A total of 15 seats changed party from Republican to Democrat in last November’s election.

Sign up for our free newsletters

Subscribe to NPQ's newsletters to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

Simonds writes, “It is with great disappointment that I am conceding the election to David Yancey. I just tried to make a personal phone call to him and would like to ask him to vote for Medicaid expansion. I have conceded because I do not see any legal pathways forward and I want representation for the 94th district today.”

Vozzella notes that some Democratic voters had also sued over a second disputed election, which involved “a 73-vote squeaker in which 147 voters mistakenly received the wrong ballots.” However, a “federal appeals court on Wednesday rejected their request to invalidate that race.” Republican Bob Thomas, who narrowly prevailed and is one of only three non-incumbent Republicans to win a seat in 2017 in the House of Delegates, will represent the Northern Virginia-based 28th district in Stafford County.

Democrats needed to win both of the disputed seats to obtain a majority, but winning one of the two disputed seats would have forced a power-sharing arrangement because of the 50-50 split that a win in one seat would have created.

More broadly, of course, it remains to be seen what the long-term impact of a wave election that provided the largest partisan shift in seats in the House of Delegates in 16 years bodes for the future of Virginia politics. House Speaker Kirk Cox, who will be responsible for committee appointments, has indicated, Vozzella writes, “that he supports proportional representation on committees.”—Steve Dubb

Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print
About the author
Steve Dubb

Steve Dubb is senior editor of economic justice at NPQ, where he writes articles (including NPQ’s Economy Remix column), moderates Remaking the Economy webinars, and works to cultivate voices from the field and help them reach a broader audience. Prior to coming to NPQ in 2017, Steve worked with cooperatives and nonprofits for over two decades, including twelve years at The Democracy Collaborative and three years as executive director of NASCO (North American Students of Cooperation). In his work, Steve has authored, co-authored, and edited numerous reports; participated in and facilitated learning cohorts; designed community building strategies; and helped build the field of community wealth building. Steve is the lead author of Building Wealth: The Asset-Based Approach to Solving Social and Economic Problems (Aspen 2005) and coauthor (with Rita Hodges) of The Road Half Traveled: University Engagement at a Crossroads, published by MSU Press in 2012. In 2016, Steve curated and authored Conversations on Community Wealth Building, a collection of interviews of community builders that Steve had conducted over the previous decade.

More about: election campaignselection recountNonprofit News

Become a member

Support independent journalism and knowledge creation for civil society. Become a member of Nonprofit Quarterly.

Members receive unlimited access to our archived and upcoming digital content. NPQ is the leading journal in the nonprofit sector written by social change experts. Gain access to our exclusive library of online courses led by thought leaders and educators providing contextualized information to help nonprofit practitioners make sense of changing conditions and improve infra-structure in their organizations.

Join Today
logo logo logo logo logo
See comments

Spring-2023-sidebar-subscribe
You might also like
Liberal Organizers Consider 2020 Election Lessons and Gear Up for 2022
Steve Dubb
A Dismayed Donor Vignette
Ruth McCambridge
Georgia’s Senate Runoffs Have Climate Emergency on the Ballot
Marian Conway
The Transition’s at Risk. Our Democracy’s at Greater Risk
Martin Levine
Media Wake Up and Condemn Baseless Voter Fraud Allegations
Ruth McCambridge
Young Candidates Champion Climate Issues at the Local Level
Marian Conway

NPQ Webinars

June 14th, 2:00pm ET

Remaking the Economy

Race for Profit

Register Now
June 22nd, 12:30 pm ET

Making Co-CEOs Work

Insights from Leaders Sharing Leadership Successfully

Register Now
July 12th, 2:00 pm ET

Remaking the Economy

Tenant Organizing in Unexpected Places

Register Now
You might also like
AOC’s “Tax the Rich” Dress Dazzles Met Gala, while...
Anastasia Reesa Tomkin
Foundation Giving Numbers for 2020 Show 15 Percent Increase
Steve Dubb
Strike MoMA Imagines Art Museums without Billionaires
Tessa Crisman

Like what you see?

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

See our newsletters

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

NPQ-Spring-2023-cover

Independent & in your mailbox.

Subscribe today and get a full year of NPQ for just $59.

subscribe
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Copyright
  • Careers

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

 

Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.