RICHMOND Democrat Shelly Simonds, who lost a tied Virginia House of Delegates contest last week in a random drawing, conceded defeat Wednesday, culminating a tumultuous election saga that cemented Republicans narrow control of the chamber.
Simonds, who could have asked for a recount, tweeted her announcement less than an hour before the House reconvened its 60-day session and cleared the way for her Republican opponent, incumbent Del. David Yancey (Newport News), to be seated without protests from Democrats.
It is with great disappointment that I am conceding the election to David Yancy, Simonds tweeted. I have conceded because I do not see any legal pathways forward and I want representation for the 94th district today.
Simonds tweeted that she had unsuccessfully tried to telephone Yancey to ask him to vote for Medicaid expansion. In recent days, she has vowed to challenge Yancey in 2019, a campaign that would be her third attempt to unseat him.
House Clerk G. Paul Nardo said on Tuesday that he planned to seat Yancey unless Simonds had requested a recount by the time the chamber convened at noon.
State law allowed Simonds until Jan. 16 to make that request, potentially creating an ugly scene that could have marred the installation of a new GOP speaker and complicate the partys effort to rebrand itself after devastating losses in an anti-Trump wave in November.
With Yancey in place, Republicans will have a 51-49 majority in the House.
The Yancey-Simonds contest was one of two disputed Republican victories that allowed the GOP to retain control despite losing 15 seats in the fall. The GOP has led the House for 18 years, dominating by a 63-to-34 majority before the elections.
A handful of voters sued over the other disputed election, a 73-vote squeaker in the Fredericksburg area where 147 voters mistakenly received the wrong ballots. A federal appeals court on Wednesday rejected their request to invalidate that race, clearing the way for Republican Bob Thomas will be sworn in.
Democrats needed to reverse both the Yancey and Thomas victories to seize control of the chamber, but they could have forced Republicans into a power-sharing arrangement by picking up just one of those seats.
On Election Day, Yancey appeared to win the race by 10 votes. A recount put Simonds ahead by a single vote. The next day, a three-judge recount court decided that a ballot discarded during the recount should be tallied for Yancey, bringing the race to an 11,608 vote tie.
A state election officials broke the tie Thursday by picking names out of a stoneware bowl created by a Virginia artist.
Since then, Virginias political class had been awaiting word on whether Simonds would request a second recount.
In recent days, a handful of Democrats and Republicans have tried to forge a deal that would make for a smooth opening day. Republicans have pressed Democrats to abandon any challenges to the Yancey and Thomas wins. Democrats have sought guarantees that crucial committees, which control the flow of legislation, are not stacked with Republicans.
Cox, who as speaker would make all committee appointments, has alreaady said that he supports proportional represention on committees. But Democrats want that promise codified in the rules.
They have also pushed for language that says Cox would make the appointments in consultation with Democrats, suggesting that the Democratic leader might propose Democrats for certain committee slots.
Fuck are we doing here, people? I mean, really.... ---
