Upcoming HOD Recounts Give Democrats a Chance at Majority
The question circulating throughout political circles in Virginia these days is whether Republicans will be able to hang onto their razor-thin majority in the House of Delegates after the unexpected thrashing they took November 7 when at least 15 GOP delegates lost to energetic Democrats. That night, astonished Republicans watched as, one after the other, their representatives fell like redwoods in the Republican forest, and their 66-34 majority devolved into a 51-49 majority. So far.
That’s where the recounts come in. Democrats still have an opportunity to move ahead in the delegate count and share power, or even move to their own 51-49 majority, as four races are now poised for recounts.
The dates for those recounts have been set, according to the Washington Post:
December 13-14 — 40th House District (Delegate Tim Hugo): Only 106 votes separate incumbent Hugo over Democrat Donte Tanner in Fairfax-Prince William counties.
December 19 — 90th House District (Delegate David Yancey): The closest of the recounts, only 10 votes separate incumbent Republican Yancey and his Democratic opponent Shelly Simonds in Newport News.
December 20 — 68th House District (Delegate Manoli Loupassi): Perhaps the surprise request came from incumbent Republican Loupassi who had conceded on election night when results showed he lost by 336 votes to Democrat Dawn Adams out of 39,000 cast. The district include parts of the city of Richmond, Chesterfield, and Henrico counties. According to the Washington Post, “… Loupassi said he had asked for the recount ‘just to make sure everything is in order here. I recognize the outcome may not change, but there’s no harm done in making sure that the vote is correct.’ ”
December 21 (tentative) — 28th House District: Republican Bob Thomas won the open seat by 82 votes over Democratic candidate Joshua Cole. The race swirled with controversy as the State Board of Elections delayed certifying the results for a week because some voters had cast ballots in the wrong district.
If one recount flips the results to a 50-50 House, Republicans and Democrats would share power with Democrats. If two recounts flip the results, Democrats would regain the majority for the first time since 2000.
The cost of recounts is passed along to taxpayers if the margin of victory is smaller than half a percentage point with campaigns picking up the tab for legal fees.
With dates in place, Republicans in the Virginia House should know by Christmas if they got a lump of coal in their stockings.
