# 2017 Virginia Gov. race: Gillespie (R) vs. Northam (D) **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [June 14, 2017, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-virginia-gov-race-gillespie-r-vs-northam-d/788920 "2017-06-14T02:52:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2017, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-virginia-gov-race-gillespie-r-vs-northam-d/788920/221 "2017-11-10T14:41:41Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > Its throwing away free money for the sake of partisan principles. You’re too kind. It isn’t partisan principles, just partisan spite. And real people get hurt by it. ---
**Author:** ![ctnguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@ctnguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ctnguy)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2017, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-virginia-gov-race-gillespie-r-vs-northam-d/788920/222 "2017-11-10T16:27:38Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > #HD27 (Chesterfield): Del. Robinson (R) up by 124 votes. > #HD28 (F’burg): Thomas (R) up by 84. > #HD94 (Newport News): Del. Yancey (R) up by 13. If there was ever a rebuttal to the, “I’m not going to vote because my vote won’t make a difference” argument… ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2017, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-virginia-gov-race-gillespie-r-vs-northam-d/788920/223 "2017-11-12T20:16:08Z")
> [@ctnguy](#): > > If there was ever a rebuttal to the, “I’m not going to vote because my vote won’t make a difference” argument… It would really suck if the Dems missed by 13 votes. But Dems have been losing important elections by even slimmer margins over the last 13 months. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2017, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-virginia-gov-race-gillespie-r-vs-northam-d/788920/224 "2017-11-13T01:51:30Z")
It’s okay if the Dems don’t take the House of Delegates; they need to be hungry for 2018. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2017, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-virginia-gov-race-gillespie-r-vs-northam-d/788920/225 "2017-11-13T13:13:20Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > It’s okay if the Dems don’t take the House of Delegates; they need to be hungry for 2018. You may be right. Losing by 18 votes might be a motivational factor. Knowing that their vote counts. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-virginia-gov-race-gillespie-r-vs-northam-d/788920/226 "2017-11-15T16:02:35Z")
[An update](http://wric.com/2017/11/13/majority-in-virginia-house-of-delegates-still-uncertain/) on the House of Delegates races: > [@](#): > > The Board of Elections will certify results Nov. 20. > > After that, campaigns can officially submit petitions for recounts in the districts with close calls. > > If the difference in votes for a particular race is as close as one percent, the losing candidate can request — and pay for — a recount, according to Meagher. > > The challenging candidate will have 10 days to file a petition with the appropriate circuit court. > > If the race is within half a percent, the state pays. Currently, the GOP candidate leads in 51 districts, and the Dem leads in 49. According to the [Virginia Department of Elections website](http://results.elections.virginia.gov/vaelections/2017%20November%20General/Site/GeneralAssembly.html), there are currently four districts (all with the Repub leading) where the state would pay for a recount if requested: the 27th, 28th, 40th, and 94th, where the GOP leads are 128, 84, 106, and 13 votes, respectively. The biggest percentage margin of any of these is 0.44%. There’s one race where the trailing party (the GOP, in that lone case) would have to pay for a recount: the 68th district, where the Dem leads by 331 votes (0.85%). It’s unclear to me whether they’re still counting the provisional ballots, or whether that’s done. Voters who voted provisionally had until noon on Monday 11/13 to provide ID that would enable their provisional ballots to count. I assume the Dems will request recounts in all races where they’re within 0.5% once the results are certified, because why not? It’s free, it might swing a race, and if it does, the GOP no longer controls the House of Delegates. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2017, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-virginia-gov-race-gillespie-r-vs-northam-d/788920/227 "2017-11-16T00:52:54Z")
In the 28th district, [Dems are claiming](https://wtop.com/virginia/2017/11/as-va-heads-recounts-dems-ask-hundreds-wrong-ballots-fredericksburg/) that two precincts were inappropriately split between the 28th and 88th districts that the redistricting law from 2010 says are supposed to be entirely in the 28th. Both halves of both precincts went heavily Dem, and would have easily flipped the seat if the Dem claims are correct. Since you can’t just take votes for the Dem candidate in the 88th and transfer them to the Dem candidate in the 28th, there’d have to be a special election in the 28th if the Dems are correct. In the 94th, after counting some provisional ballots, the margin is down to 10 in favor of the Republican. The Dems protested the exclusion of 8 Christopher Newport U. students’ votes, which would have got the margin down to 2. (Fun fact: I taught there, 30 years ago.) Is there gonna be a recount in the 94th? Hell yes! ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2017, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-virginia-gov-race-gillespie-r-vs-northam-d/788920/228 "2017-11-16T14:32:05Z")
Aaaaand it looks as if the Dems’ claims AREN’T correct about the 28th district. Matt Rowe has a good explanation [here](https://twitter.com/MattRoweVA/status/931158629675425792). TL;DR version: the redistricting law describes the precincts as they were at the time of redistricting. Localities are free to redraw voting precinct boundaries, and Fredericksburg did this subsequently. The Code of Virginia also contains boundary line descriptions of the HoD districts, those control, and those boundaries cut through those precincts as currently defined. So the GOP candidate is still 84 votes ahead, pending a recount. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2017, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-virginia-gov-race-gillespie-r-vs-northam-d/788920/229 "2017-11-27T01:42:33Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Aaaaand it looks as if the Dems’ claims AREN’T correct about the 28th district. Matt Rowe has a good explanation [here](https://twitter.com/MattRoweVA/status/931158629675425792). Apparently they were[partly correct, but the errors were at a more granular level.](https://wtop.com/virginia/2017/11/147-voted-wrong-house-delegates-race-va/) > [@](#): > > The analysis [by the VA Department of Elections] concludes 125 voters incorrectly voted in the 28th District, where the State Board of Elections is due to certify results Monday that show Republican Bob Thomas leading Democrat Joshua Cole by 82 votes. > > It finds 22 voters wrongly cast ballots in the 88th House of Delegates District, where Republican Mark Cole won re-election by 4,104 votes. There is no way for elections officials to know which candidate any of these voters cast ballots for. The [Dems are challenging](https://ballotpedia.org/Virginia_House_of_Delegates_elections,_2017) the results of this race in Federal court. And there will still be recounts in the 28th and two other districts, including the 94th where the GOP candidate leads by 10 votes in the initial count. Fat lady ain’t sung yet. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2017, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-virginia-gov-race-gillespie-r-vs-northam-d/788920/230 "2017-11-27T01:53:59Z")
More evidence that [Virginia may finally have rejoined the Union](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/why-a-historically-conservative-county-in-virginia-is-making-national-republicans-nervous/2017/11/25/654a90f4-cbbb-11e7-8321-481fd63f174d_story.html?undefined=&utm_term=.f8e247aa5957&wpisrc=nl_most&wpmm=1): > [@](#): > > For the first time since 1961, Chesterfield County backed a Democrat for governor — and the driving forces in this Richmond suburb included women who defiantly trumpeted a political label their party has ducked for decades. > … > “That’s a huge red flag for Republicans and an opportunity for Democrats,” said Jesse Ferguson, a national Democratic strategist. “There’s opportunity in these traditionally conservative suburbs with college-educated white voters who are unwilling to back a Republican candidate. It’s a function of and proof that Trump has tainted the rest of the Republicans running for office.” > … > The group’s next target is Rep. Dave Brat (R-Va.), whose district includes Chesterfield and who earlier this year complained that “the women are in my grill no matter where I go” — a reference to the activists who protested against efforts by Brat and other House Republicans to repeal the Affordable Care Act. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2017, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-virginia-gov-race-gillespie-r-vs-northam-d/788920/231 "2017-12-19T20:50:47Z")
[They’ve finished the recount in VA-94.](https://twitter.com/reemadamin/status/943220966217408518) Shelly Simonds, the Democratic candidate, has gone from being down by 10 votes to WINNING BY **ONE VOTE**. This puts the VA House of Delegates in a 50-50 tie, pending the results of the two other disputed races (28th and 40th). Never say your one lousy vote can’t matter. In this case, each and every person who voted Dem in that district can pat themselves on the back for having taken control of the VA legislature away from the Republicans. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2017, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-virginia-gov-race-gillespie-r-vs-northam-d/788920/232 "2017-12-19T21:28:17Z")
OK, [according to BallotPedia](https://ballotpedia.org/Virginia_House_of_Delegates_elections,_2017) (great site, btw), I’m running behind. The recount for VA-40 has been completed, and the Republicans retained control of that one. So as soon as VA-94 is certified (which should happen tomorrow as a matter of routine), the VA House of Delegates is 49-49 with two races undecided. One is VA-68, where the Dem leads by 336 votes going into a recount scheduled for tomorrow. (The GOP had to pay for this one, since the margin was more than 0.5%. The likelihood of the recount changing the result is _minuscule_.) The other is VA-28, where the Republican leads by 82 votes going into a recount scheduled for Thursday. AND the Dems are also challenging this result in court (see post 229 above) and asking for a new election. There’s a court hearing on the legal challenge on January 5. IOW, fat lady STILL ain’t sung! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2017, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-virginia-gov-race-gillespie-r-vs-northam-d/788920/233 "2017-12-19T22:26:49Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > [They’ve finished the recount in VA-94.](https://twitter.com/reemadamin/status/943220966217408518) Shelly Simonds, the Democratic candidate, has gone from being down by 10 votes to WINNING BY **ONE VOTE**. > > This puts the VA House of Delegates in a 50-50 tie, pending the results of the two other disputed races (28th and 40th). > > Never say your one lousy vote can’t matter. In this case, each and every person who voted Dem in that district can pat themselves on the back for having taken control of the VA legislature away from the Republicans. :eek: Yes, Virginia, sometimes one vote is what matters. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2017, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-virginia-gov-race-gillespie-r-vs-northam-d/788920/234 "2017-12-20T00:21:51Z")
Wow, I donated $25 to Shelly Simonds. I feel unexpectedly powerful. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2017, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-virginia-gov-race-gillespie-r-vs-northam-d/788920/235 "2017-12-20T00:24:33Z")
> [@Fretful\_Porpentine](#): > > Wow, I donated $25 to Shelly Simonds. I feel unexpectedly powerful. Your $25 was the bit needed to run that last batch of copies for the telephone poles and utility boxes of wherever the winning vote was cast… good job, **Fretful Porpentine**! ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2017, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-virginia-gov-race-gillespie-r-vs-northam-d/788920/236 "2017-12-20T00:44:47Z")
[AP story is pretty comprehensive](https://apnews.com/236af7df120247b39868b09b1ef9bdf6/Democrat-recount-win-could-alter-power-in-Virginia's-House), but I especially liked this bit at the end, about the Fredericksburg recount scheduled for Thursday: > [@](#): > > Ballots will be recounted in the Fredericksburg area’s 28th District on Thursday. The Republican candidate there has an 82-vote lead. But Democrats have already asked a judge to call for a new election after at least 147 ballots were found to be assigned to the wrong districts. If the difference between the candidates was 82 votes, 147 mis-placed votes is a big deal, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2017, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-virginia-gov-race-gillespie-r-vs-northam-d/788920/237 "2017-12-20T00:58:45Z")
And now some of the ‘progressive’ purity ponies are turning their ire on Northam because he won’t give them a unicorn and has to work with Republicans > **[Progressives riled up by Northam’s comments on Medicaid, bipartisanship](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/progressives-riled-up-by-northams-comments-on-medicaid-bipartisanship/2017/12/18/94dd2684-e42e-11e7-ab50-621fe0588340_story.html?utm_term=.000dae958e96)** > > Incoming Democratic Va governor draws wrath for seeming at odds with demands from the left ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2017, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-virginia-gov-race-gillespie-r-vs-northam-d/788920/238 "2017-12-20T02:15:40Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > And now some of the ‘progressive’ purity ponies are turning their ire on Northam because he won’t give them a unicorn and has to work with Republicans > [https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/progressives-riled-up-by-northams-comments-on-medicaid-bipartisanship/2017/12/18/94dd2684-e42e-11e7-ab50-621fe0588340\_story.html?utm\_term=.000dae958e96](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/progressives-riled-up-by-northams-comments-on-medicaid-bipartisanship/2017/12/18/94dd2684-e42e-11e7-ab50-621fe0588340_story.html?utm_term=.000dae958e96) No, that wasn’t it at all. People, rightly or wrongly, interpreted his initial remarks as backing down on his commitment to Medicaid expansion. I was following people on Twitter during the interval between Northam’s initial remarks and his later clarification, and it was crystal clear that that was the issue. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2017, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-virginia-gov-race-gillespie-r-vs-northam-d/788920/239 "2017-12-20T02:20:20Z")
Work requirements, cost sharing, and drug testing should be non-starters for Democrats when it comes to Medicaid. They do not work to do anything but keep people who need help from being able to access it. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2017, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-virginia-gov-race-gillespie-r-vs-northam-d/788920/240 "2017-12-20T11:59:54Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > [They’ve finished the recount in VA-94.](https://twitter.com/reemadamin/status/943220966217408518) Shelly Simonds, the Democratic candidate, has gone from being down by 10 votes to WINNING BY **ONE VOTE**. It sounds like the GOP accepted their loss with good faith and good spirits. 🙂 Not like a [Mississippi election two years ago](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/21/us/republicans-gain-edge-with-vote-to-unseat-mississippi-democrat.html) where the final vote was tied exactly, the Democrat drew the winning straw,\*\*\* the Republican candidate conceded, but the GOP-controlled Mississippi House reversed the outcome\*\*\* by finding 5 “illegal” provisional votes. (It seems pretty likely they made no effort to look for “illegal” provisional votes for the Republican.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-virginia-gov-race-gillespie-r-vs-northam-d/788920.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-virginia-gov-race-gillespie-r-vs-northam-d/788920.md?page=13)