CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE
Winter 2017 Issue |
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Legislative Update
By James Pickral
PSV Lobbyist
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James Pickral |
2017 Virginia Election Recap
November’s elections resulted in a seismic shift in Virginia’s political landscape. While pundits were projecting a likely Democratic sweep of the statewide offices, no one was projecting that Democrats could pick up around 15 seats in the House of Delegates.Â
Statewide Races
As predicted, the Democrats swept the statewide races. The Democratic nominee, Ralph Northam, defeated the Republican nominee, Ed Gillespie by almost 9 percentage points. Justin Fairfax (D) beat Senator Jill Vogel (R) by five percentage points and Mark Herring (D) was re-elected as Attorney General over John Adams (R) by six and one half percentage points. While the margins in those elections were much bigger than anticipated, the real surprise last night was in the House of Delegates.
House of Delegates
Republicans went into the elections yesterday with a 66-34 majority in the House of Delegates. But after yesterday’s election results, it appears the Democrats have picked up at least 15 seats. Recounts have been scheduled in four districts, including HD28 where voters backed by the Democratic Party of Virginia have filed a lawsuit to request a new election after the Board of Elections found that almost 150 voters were assigned to vote in the wrong House district. 12 Republican incumbents lost their seats and three open seats flipped from Republican to Democrat. If the recounts or a special election result in one more Democratic seat, it will yield a 50-50 split. The last time there was an even split in the House of Delegates was in 1998. At that time, they struck a power sharing agreement, which included co-chairs of committees. However, with four seats undergoing a recount, the final vote count could shift. Stay tuned!
Republican Incumbents Who Lost Seats: (12)
Delegate Randy Minchew
Delegate Joseph Yost
Delegate Bob Marshall
Delegate Ron Villanueva
Delegate Scott Lingamfelter
Delegate Tag Greason
Delegate Jackson Miller
Delegate Rich Anderson
Delegate Jim LeMunyon
Delegate Manoli Loupassi
Delegate John O’Bannon
Delegate Rocky Holcomb
Open Seats Previously Held by Republican and Won by a Democrat (3)
District 2 (formerly Delegate Mark Dudenhefer)
District 42 (formerly Delegate Dave Albo)
District 72 (formerly Delegate Jimmie Massie)
Four Seats Scheduled for a Recount (less than 1% difference in votes)
Delegate David Yancey (up 10 votes)
District 28 (Former Speaker Howell’s district; Republican Bill Thomas up 82 votes)
Delegate Tim Hugo (up 106 votes)
Delegate-Elect Dawn Adams (up 336 votes; incumbent Manoli Loupassi requested a recount)
The transition for Governor-elect Northam has begun in earnest. We expect a smooth transition between outgoing Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe and incoming Democrat Ralph Northam who is the current Lieutenant Governor. For full election results, please visit www.vpap.org.
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