GOP luck of the draw
Wins the ‘Virginia Bowl’ tiebreaker
Virginia election officials pulled a name out of a bowl on Thursday to settle a deadlocked state House race — and the Republican incumbent won.
The state Board of Elections certified David Yancey’s selection after his name was picked out of a ceramic bowl in a drawn-out ceremony in Richmond.
About 100 people were on hand as board Chairman James Alcorn explained how the drawing would unfold.
Two pieces of paper with the candidates’ names were put in film containers and placed in the bowl on loan from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.
Alcorn drew the winner and Vice Chairwoman Clara Belle Wheeler opened the second canister to prove both names had been included.
“This is a sad conclusion for me,” Democrat Shelly Simonds said, adding that she would look at her options before seeking a recount.
Yancey didn’t attend the drawing.
The race for the 94th House of Delegates in Newport News is significant because party control of the state House hung in the balance.
With Yancey’s win, Republicans have a 51-49 advantage in the chamber, pending the results of another recount.
Yancey originally won by 10 votes on Election Day. Then Simonds was declared the winner by one vote after a recount on Dec. 19.
But the next day, a three-judge panel ruled that the race was a tie after deciding that a ballot originally not counted because both names were circled was, in fact, cast for the Republican.
The circle around Simonds’ name had a line through it, the panel said, invalidating it.
That left the two candidates deadlocked at 11,608 votes each.
To settle the matter, the Board of Elections planned to break the tie by selecting the winner from a clear glass bowl before Christmas.
But Simonds’ lawyers challenged the recount process in Newport News Circuit Court, arguing that the integrity of the vote was at stake.
The court allowed the drawing to proceed on Wednesday.