Virginia Democrat takes state seat from Republican after recount - by just one vote

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Democrats look to have flipped a Republican seat in the Virginia state legislature by just one vote, creating a rare 50-50 tie between the parties.

The dramatic, razor-close recount of election ballots in the 94th District of the Virginia House of Delegates resulted in Shelly Simonds edging out David Yancey, with a panel of judges needing to confirm the result on Wednesday. .

Mr Yancey went into the recount - supervised by local elected officials - leading by just ten votes.

After five hours of meticulously re-counting the Newport News, Virginia ballots, the final tally: Ms Simonds had 11,608 to Mr Yancey’s 11,607 votes.

In a statement, the Virginia Republican party conceded it lost its majority in the House of Delegates.

“After a close recount it appears the citizens of the 94th District have elected Shelly Simonds to the Virginia House of Delegates, pending confirmation by a three judge panel,” the statement read. “We congratulate Delegate-elect Simonds and welcome her to this historic body. We also thank Delegate David Yancey for his distinguished service.”

“I knew it was going to be a roller coaster ride and the counts were going to change and votes were going to shift around. but I had faith in the system and final outcome,” Ms Simonds told the Washington Post, adding that she had stayed off of Twitter to avoid being even more nervous.

“This is part of a huge wave election in Virginia where voters came out in record numbers to force a change in Virginia, and I’m really proud to be part of that change and part of that wave election,” she said.

The count has to be verified by a panel of three judges in the county.

If the panel upholds the recount, it would result in the seats in the House of Delegates beting split equally between the parties.

This could prove problematic for legislation in the commonwealth since there are no tie-breaking procedures in the legislative body.

Any bill that results in a strictly party-line vote, dies at that point. The process is meant to encourage more bipartisan legislation.

It ties the hands of Republicans who, despite a 21-19 majority in the state Senate, also face Democratic Governor-elect Ralph Northam, who will have veto power.

Mr Yancey is still allowed to contest the recount, but it is likely he will not challenge the result.