The district has been represented by Democrat Shelly Simonds since 2020.[3][4] In 2017, an extremely close race in this district made national headlines. Following a three-judge panel decision declaring the race a tie, the winner of the 2017 general election was determined by lot with David Yancey winning.[5][6][7]
Recent election results
Virginia's 94th House of Delegates district, 2013[8]
The district's election in 2017 was unusually close. Shelly Simonds challenged Yancey for the second time. Unofficial election night results showed Yancey with a 12-vote lead.[10] The race had statewide significance because if Yancey were to win, Republicans would hold a majority in the House of Delegates, but if Simonds were to win, the parties would each have 50 seats, which would have required a power-sharing agreement in the chamber. On November 20, the Virginia State Board of Elections certified Yancey as the winner by 10 votes. Simonds requested a recount.[10] The recount gave Simonds the win by a single vote.[11] Following this, a three-judge panel decided that a potential overvote ballot should be counted for Yancey, thus tying the race. The potential overvote ballot shows a vote for both Simonds and Yancey with Simonds' crossed out, but also shows the vote for the governor crossed out.[12] The winner was set to be decided based on drawing a name out of a bowl on December 27.[13] Appeals by Simonds' campaign postponed the drawing until January 4, 2018. At that time, David Yancey's name was drawn by lot and he was declared the winner.[7] The loser of such a drawing maintains the right to ask for another recount.[5][6] On January 10, 2018, Simonds declared that she would not seek a second recount and that she was conceding the race to Yancey.[14]
Virginia's 94th House of Delegates district, 2017[15]
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