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Democrat concedes tied Va. delegate race.
A Virginia Democrat who lost a contentious and crucial delegate race settled by lot after the vote ended in a tie conceded to the Republican incumbent Wednesday.
The announcement from Shelly Simonds means the GOP will remain in the majority, albeit by the razor-thin margin of 51-49. Democrats flipped more than a dozen seats in the November election, claiming the results as a renunciation of President Trump.
The concession cleared the way for David Yancey to be formally seated later Wednesday, the first day of the legislative session. Simonds said she was bowing out “with great disappointment.”
“I have conceded because I do not see any legal pathways forward and I want representation for the 94th district today,” Simonds tweeted. “I just tried to make a personal phone call to him and would like to ask him to vote for Medicaid expansion.”
Ralph Northam, a Democrat who won the governor’s race, campaigned on a pledge to expand Medicaid for hundreds of thousands of low-income state residents. Carl Tobias, a professor at the University of Richmond School of Law, called Simonds’ decision “pragmatic.”
“Another recount could have left constituents without representation and would have taken time and resources,” Tobias told USA TODAY. “She will ... try to persuade (Yancey) to favor Medicaid expansion. And she pledged to run again in 2019.”
The race had flipped back and forth, with Yancey appearing to win by several votes on election night. A recount in the ensuing days put Simonds ahead by a single vote of more than 22,000 cast.
But Republicans challenged the decision made on one ballot, on which the circles next to both names were filled in. A line was drawn through Simonds’ circle. The vote, initially not counted, was flipped to Yancey and then upheld by the courts.
That sent the decision to a tiebreak. The state elections board placed both names in a ceramic bowl, and drew one. Yancey’s name emerged, and Simonds decided not to seek another recount.
Yancey declared victory after Thursday’s drawing.
“For those of you who voted for me, thank you, for those of you who did not, please know that I will continue to do my best to represent all of us in Richmond,” he said.