Free Republic

What looked like a draw for control of the House of Delegates turned into an apparent Republican victory with the defeat of Del. Lashrecse Aird, D-Petersburg, who had appeared to narrowly win re-election over GOP newcomer Kim Taylor. Instead, Taylor took a late lead in what appears to be an upset victory over Aird, as the battle for a House majority swung back and forth Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning with unofficial results subject to canvassing by local electoral boards to determine final winners. House Minority Leader Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah, declared victory with a statement released at 1:40 a.m....

Virginia Republicans wrestled away control of the Virginia House of Delegates to take away the Democrats’ 55-45 majority held since 2019. In Tuesday’s close election that saw Republicans sweep all three statewide races, Republicans also won back at least six seats in the Commonwealth’s lower chamber, resulting in a one-person majority for Republicans, according to data from the Virginia Public Access Project (VPAP).

A three- judge panel declined to certify the recount of a key House race today, saying that a questionable ballot should be counted in favor of the Republican and tying a race that Democrats had thought they had won by a single vote. “The court declares there is no winner in this election,” said Circuit Court Judge Bryant L. Sugg, after the judges deliberated for more than two hours. The court’s decision leaves the race for the 94th District tied at 11,608 votes for each Del. David Yancey, the Republican incumbent, and Shelly Simonds, his Democratic challenger. And it leaves...

Democrat Shelly Simonds took the Virginia House of Delegates seat Tuesday from Republican David Yancey after a recount had her in the lead by a single vote, reports the Washington Post. A three-judge panel still has to certify the results, but if approved, her victory will bring the 51-49 GOP majority to a rare 50-50 split.

Right now, the Virginia House of Delegates has 53 Republicans, 2 independents who caucus with the GOP, 43 Democrats, and 2 vacant seats. I hear Republicans watching the state delegate races closely think they have 11 challengers currently within the margin of error or better. They're worried about one or two of their own incumbents. You can do the rest of the math.

You've heard about this 36,000-word bill that proposes to pay for new roads with a menu of taxes and fees, including a sales tax on gas, and on house and car purchases. You've also heard the pleas - from, well, everybody - for simplicity and fairness and maybe enough money to actually fix the problem we've got. The kind of money Virginia could reap from a higher gas tax, or a bump in the sales tax. Or from wider tolling. But instead of either simplicity or fairness, Virginia will end up with a transportation-funding plan that gathers an inadequate mess...