A pair of film canisters. A ceramic bowl. A quick swirl and that’s all it took to pick the winner of a hotly contested Virginia House of Delegates seat – where the contest was improbably tied.

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After weeks of political drama, the Virginia Board of Elections drew the name of Republican incumbent David Yancey out of a ceremonial blue and white ceramic bowl to determine the certified winner of the Virginia House of Delegates 94th District seat.

Democrat Shelly Simonds, who sat next to her family and watched as James Alcorn, the Chairman of the Board of Elections, announced her opponent's name to a packed room inside the Patrick Henry Room in Richmond's Capitol Square, did not concede in the aftermath of the drawing, leaving open the possibility of an additional recount.

Following weeks of heated legal battles and protestations from both sides to determine the outcome of the race, the method for picking a winner was simple -- both names were typed on a sheet of paper, placed in separate, new, Amazon-bought film canisters, then stirred around in the ceramic bowl made by a local artisan. Alcorn, the Chairman, picked out the winning name by hand.

"Today we have witnessed an unprecedented event in the history of the commonwealth of Virginia," said Vice Chairman of the Virginia Board of Elections Claire Wheeler.

The last time the state of Virginia drew a name out of a bowl was 1971. But this time more was at stake, as the winner could sway who is picked as Speaker of the House and number of people on committees.

"This has never been done before for the longest-running legislative body in the New World," said Wheeler.

Win McNamee/Getty Images

After the Democrats swept Virginia races in November, this statewide race had the power to determine the balance of the Virginia House of Delegates. Republicans have held control of the House for 17 years, but this rare tie in Virginia could have brought the House to 50 Democrats, and 50 Republicans, allowing Democrats a little more wiggle room to push through items in their legislative agenda.

Initially, Yancey, who did not attend Thursday's drawing due to the snow storm that affected his coastal Virginia home, won by 10 votes, but after a recount, the votes were tied 11,608 to 11,608. One ballot came in question over a confusing mark, causing the race to draw comparisons to Florida's hanging chad fiasco in the 2000 presidential election.

With Yancey's win today, the House will be at 51 Republicans, 49 Democrats, allowing Republicans to likely hold onto their control of House committees.

Steve Helber/AP

Still, Simonds said she was not conceding the race but instead will take time to reflect on a run that has brought unprecedented national attention to the state race.

"At this moment I am not conceding but I am reflecting on a very interesting campaign and a very hard fought campaign," she said.

Simonds could potentially ask for a second recount, which would delay the seating of the race's winner until after the House convenes on January 10.

In a gaggle with reporters following the drawing, Simonds said that it was a "sad conclusion for me and the people of Virginia who needed Medicaid expansion, which was really on the line here."

Simonds cited the support of Emily's List in helping her as a female candidate, and said she plans to run again.

"This race was really the pale end of a blue wave," said Simonds of Democratic wins in the state. "And people better get ready."

Pledging to serve all the residents of the Newport News constituency, Yancey said in a statement, "The election is behind us, the outcome is clear, and my responsibility now is to begin the work I was re-elected to do.”</s>RICHMOND, Va. – The first name selected from a bowl to determine the winner of the 94th district for the House of Delegates was David Yancey.

The random drawing on Thursday morning ends a tie between Yancey and Democratic challenger Shelly Simonds and gives the Republicans the majority in the House of Delegates, but uncertainty remains if this is the final step in the race.

Shelly Simonds and David Yancey were tied following a recount in the 94th district race. The board’s chairman, James Alcorn, randomly picked the winner from a bowl.

The drawing follows weeks of drama and court filings in the race. Simonds proposed letting the winner of the recount stand on Wednesday, but when Yancey didn’t agree to the propsoal, Simonds said all options are still on the table.

There is ambiguity in the state law over whether the losing candidate can request a second recount.

Stay with News 3 for updates on this developing story.</s>Republican David Yancey on Thursday won a tied election for a Virginia House of Delegates seat when state officials picked his name out of a bowl.

The name drawing settles the disputed election for the 94th District seat, at least for now, and allows Republicans to maintain control of the Virginia House of Delegates.

Simonds, however, refused to concede, saying “all options are still on the table,” according to NBC reporter Vaughn Hillyard.

Yancey was initially declared the winner of the November election, but after a recount, Democrat Shelly Simonds was deemed the victor by one vote. When a court reviewed the recount, lawyers for Yancey found a single ballot they believed should have been counted for the Republican, and the court agreed to accept it.

That meant the race was officially a tie, which Virginia state law requires to be determined “by lot” ― through such random processes as picking a name out of a hat, drawing straws or flipping a coin.

Lawyers for Simonds unsucessfully sought to get a local court to prevent the drawing, and said Simonds should be the election winner because the court that declared the race a tie failed to follow proper recount procedures.

Simonds asked Yancey on Wednesday to agree to accept the results of the drawing, but he declined. It’s unclear whether the drawing will be contested.</s>In a "random drawing" of names this morning, Republican David Yancey's name was chosen first, rendering him the winner of the tied Virginia House of Delegates race.

CNN reports that Simonds has not conceded, and may request a second recount, saying "all options are still on the table."

"At this moment, I am not conceding," she told CNN.

We will wait for further updates!</s>RICHMOND, Va. (Reuters) - Republican incumbent David Yancey won a lottery-style drawing aimed at resolving a tied Virginia House of Delegates race on Thursday but the losing Democrat said she could challenge the results.

State elections board Chairman James Alcorn’s drawing of Yancey’s name from a ceramic bowl could give Republicans a 51-49 advantage in the 100-seat House. But Democrat Shelly Simonds said she was weighing her options, raising the prospect of a second recount.

“At this moment I am not conceding. I am reflecting on a hard campaign,” Simonds told reporters after the drawing.

The electoral equivalent of a coin toss was the latest twist after a recount showed Simonds beating Yancey by one vote for the 94th District seat. A three-judge panel later ruled that a disputed ballot should be counted for Yancey.

The deadlocked race occurred during Democrats’ massive gains in Virginia’s statehouse elections in November. The wins were part of the party’s first big wave of political victories since Republican President Donald Trump won the White House in 2016.</s>Republican David Yancey was declared the winner of the race for the 94th District of the Virginia House of Delegates after a highly anticipated random drawing Thursday.

But it’s unlikely that the result of the drawing will end the weeks-long saga, as the Democrat, Shelly Simonds, can request another recount as the losing candidate, which would put the high-stakes race in limbo again for at least several more days.

With Yancey's win, Republicans will have a 51-49 majority in the House of Delegates.

The Virginia Board of Elections met Thursday and randomly selected the winner from two film canisters placed in a bowl from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the culmination of several weeks of uncertainty surrounding who would win the seat for the 94th district in the state House.

Yancey, the incumbent, was declared the presumptive winner by just 10 votes on election night in November, but an unofficial recount Dec. 19 then put Simonds ahead by a single vote.

A three-judge panel that met to certify the results of the recount the following day ended up ruling on a contested ballot that made the race a tie, at 11,608 votes each.

The state board of elections was scheduled to meet Dec. 27 to randomly draw the name of the winner, but the meeting was postponed after Simonds asked the court to reconsider its ruling.

Simonds’ lawyers argued the panel of judges made a “clear legal error … [that] ran contrary to Virginia law” when it accepted the disputed ballot. The court denied Simonds’ request.

Simonds made an offer to Yancey on Wednesday to accept the results of Thursday’s draw as final, but her Republican challenger declined.

The Democrat suggested another recount is likely, meaning the winner of the race will not be seated until after the state legislature convenes for this year’s session Jan. 10.

“I will continue to fight. Yancey has declined my offer to make the draw tomorrow final, so I guess the only sure thing is that this won’t be settled tomorrow. I’m sorry that my district may not have representation Jan 10 because of this,” she tweeted.

“We made an offer to make the draw tomorrow final, which Yancey has declined. Just to be clear: no deal means all options are still on the table for us moving forward,” Simonds continued.</s>RICHMOND, Va. (WVEC/AP) - Republican incumbent Delegate David Yancey won a 50-50 drawing for House District 94, capping off weeks of recounts, ties, and uncertainty over who would control the House of Delegates and who would represent the Newport News district.

Virginia election officials conducted the blind drawing Thursday morning. Two film canisters were placed in a ceramic bowl, one with Yancey's name, and the other with Democratic candidate Shelly Simonds in the other.

Shortly after 11 a.m., the first canister was pulled out of the bowl, opened and showed the name of the winner: David Yancey.

See Also: Judges deny Democrats' request to undo recount decision

The drawing was the latest dramatic twist in a November election that saw Democrats wipe out a 66-34 advantage held by Republicans in the House.

The original election results had Yancey winning by a slim margin. Simonds challenged with a recount, which showed that she had one with a single vote. The following day when the election was to be certified, the Yancey team asked that an overvote that had been thrown out be reconsidered as a vote for the Republican. The judges overseeing the recount agreed, which resulted in the tie.

As such, Republicans maintain control of the House of Delegates, 51-49.

But an ultimate resolution could still be far away. Simonds could push for a second recount.</s>Today, a random drawing settled a hotly contested political race in Virginia. The candidates for House District 94 had disputed the election results in November. There was a recount, and there were legal challenges. Control of the Virginia House of Delegates hung in the balance. So today in Richmond, the State Board of Elections chairman reached into a bowl to fish out a piece of paper inside a film canister, and then he read a name...

JAMES ALCORN: The winner of House District 94 is David Yancey.

SIEGEL: ...David Yancey, the Republican. NPR's Sarah McCammon has been following this race closely and joins us now. And Sarah, tell us how Virginia got to a drawing of lots today.

SARAH MCCAMMON, BYLINE: Yeah, it's been a really unusual and convoluted process and really unexpected because Republicans went into the November election with just about a two-thirds majority in the House of Delegates. But Democrats organized really hard all over the state of Virginia, came close to erasing that.

And Robert, to recap what happened with this race, House District 94 in southeast Virginia, the initial election result in November was really close, so there was a recount. The Democrat, Shelly Simonds, won that recount by one vote. That appeared to set up a 50-50 partisan split in the legislature, which would have given Democrats a chance to share power and maybe push through goals like expanding Medicaid. But that was far from the end of this.

There was this one questionable ballot that was re-examined shortly thereafter, and election officials counted that vote for the Republican, David Yancey. That created a tie in this race, which is why this drawing had to be held to finally determine the winner.

SIEGEL: How unusual is it to settle a race with a drawing?

MCCAMMON: Well, it depends where you live. Different states handle these things differently. As our colleague Jessica Taylor has reported, some states like Ohio have used a coin toss. In Colorado, local elections have been decided with a Vegas-style card draw. And here in Virginia, under state law, it comes down to a drawing. Yancey, the Republican incumbent, by the way, was not present at the drawing today because of the big snowstorm that's been bearing down on this region.

SIEGEL: And then there's the odd devices used for the drawing. Why film canisters?

MCCAMMON: Right. The details beyond the fact that there's a tiebreaking drawing are really a matter of tradition. Election officials say they've used film canisters for a long time in Virginia. These are the old-school kind some of us might remember. They were actually ordered on Amazon, we're told.

And so what they do is they put each candidate's name inside of one canister each, put those in a bowl, shake them up, draw the winner. And it does have a lot of significance. With Yancey's win today, as things stand now, Republicans would seem to have a 51-49 majority in the Virginia House.

SIEGEL: And does that mean that this is all over now; Yancey will be sworn in, and that'll be that?

MCCAMMON: Well, not necessarily. Democrats could still ask for another recount. So far, they have not conceded, and they just say that they're keeping their options open. And Shelly Simonds, the Democrat, says she'll let her supporters know about any next steps.

I should mention there's one other seat that's still in dispute in federal court. A group of Democratic voters has asked for a new election there, and there's a hearing on that one tomorrow in the D.C. suburbs. But the assembly - the Virginia General Assembly convenes in less than a week. And at least for now, Republicans are poised to be in control.

MCCAMMON: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.</s>The race for one deadlocked election — and control of the Virginia House of Delegates — was decided by a hat drawing.

On Thursday, the Virginia Election Board declared Republican David Yancey as the election winner to represent Virginia’s 94th House District, as his name was picked out of a bowl.

The drawing concludes what may be the craziest election outcome in recent American history.

Following a wave election for Virginia Democrats, GOP members in Virginia’s House of Delegates saw their once-strong 66-43 majority drop to a razor slim 51-49 majority.

While Republicans were able to maintain control of Virginia’s state House by a single seat, many races were extremely close and Democrats initiated recounts in several elections — one of them being the 94th District.

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State Del. Yancey had been representing the Newport News district since 2012, but endured the fight of his life last year when he defeated Democrat challenger Shelly Simonds by a mere 10-vote margin, the close outcome warranting an immediate recount.

Unfortunately for Yancey, the recount found Simonds to have won by a single vote, taking in 11,608 votes to Yancey’s 11,607.

Following the recount, most Republicans figured the race and their majority gone.

“After a close recount it appears the citizens of the 94th District have elected Shelly Simonds to the Virginia House of Delegates, pending confirmation by a three judge panel,” Virginia GOP House leadership said in a statement.

“We congratulate Delegate-elect Simonds and welcome her to this historic body. We also thank Delegate David Yancey for his distinguished service.”

All seemed lost for the once-strong GOP majority in the Virginia House of Delegates. Yancey’s loss would mean the partisan make-up in the legislative body would be exactly tied at 50-50, taking away the GOP’s majority control.

But then a panel of judges upended the decision by counting one disputed ballot in Yancey’s favor. The Republican’s team was able to successfully argue for the inclusion of one ballot that had been previously tossed aside because of marking discrepancies.

The ballot in question voted GOP at all levels, but appeared to accidentally fill in bubbles for both Yancey and Simonds, crossing out the bubble next to Simonds’ name. Whoever filled in the ballot appeared to be a down-the-line Republican voter who accidentally filled in Simonds’ name, but haphazardly tried to nix his mistake.

The panel’s decision to count this vote meant Yancey and Simonds were tied, both at 11,608 total votes. The ultimate winner, they announced, would be determined by winner of a hat drawing.

The resolution by Virginia officials to choose a winner by a random drawing came by following a 1705 law that deals with addressing tied elections.

Virginia Democrats were enraged by the decision.

“Today’s decision by the court was wrong, and Delegate-elect Shelly Simonds should have been certified the winner,” Marc Elias, their attorney, stated, according to Business Insider. “We are currently assessing all legal options before us as we fight for a just result.”

Nevertheless, the drawing took place Thursday, with Republican Yancey emerging victorious as his name was chosen.

“At this moment, I am not conceding, but I am reflecting on a very interesting and hard-fought campaign,” Simonds said after the drawing. “I’ve had a lot of good luck in my life so I have to be grateful for what I have.”

Amazingly, this is not the first time an election has been decided by a random drawing. In 2015, a Mississippi House seat was determined by candidates drawing straws. In 2006, a coin toss determined the primary winner for a House election in Alaska, according to CNN.

However, no other race has been so consequential.

With Yancey emerging as the winner in Virginia, Republicans in the state capitol’s lower chamber will be able to keep majority control for at least another two years before elections come again.</s>RICHMOND, Va. — The Latest on a Virginia legislative election in which the winner’s name is drawn out of a bowl (all times local):

The Democrat who lost a drawing of lots for a Virginia legislative seat says it’s a sad conclusion for her but she is still considering her options.

Shelley Simonds lost the race for the 94th District when an elections official pulled out incumbent Republican David Yancey’s name first. The two were tied after the November election.

The drawing Thursday drew quite a crowd to the Virginia elections board meeting. Most of the people packed into the room were Simonds’ supporters. Yancey did not attend.

As Yancey’s name was announced, Simonds sat stoically, holding the hands of her daughter and husband seated beside her. She endured a long moment of silence as the elections officials certified Yancey as the winner. The only sound in the room was the clicking of cameras, most of which were trained on Simonds.

Her supporters left the room disappointed and she addressed the media.

A Republican has won a Virginia state House of Delegates race so close that its outcome was determined by pulling the candidate’s name out of a bowl.

Del. David Yancey was named the winner of the 94th District on Thursday by the Virginia State Board of Elections.

The race between the three-term incumbent and Democratic challenger Shelly Simonds has bounced back and forth since the November election. Yancey appeared to have won by 10 votes, but on Dec. 19 Simonds won a recount by a single vote. The next day, a three-judge panel declared a tie based on a previously uncounted vote for Yancey.

The win by Yancey leaves Republicans clinging to a slim 51-49 majority over Democrats in the House. A lawsuit is pending over the results of another House race in northern Virginia and Simonds could ask for another recount.

A Virginia legislative election that could determine which party controls the House is set to be decided by chance. That’s after an election, a recount and a legal battle all failed to determine a winner.

Virginia elections officials will conduct a blind drawing Thursday morning to determine the winner of the 94th House District contest. The candidates are incumbent Republican David Yancey and Democrat Shelly Simonds.

The drawing will be the latest dramatic twist in a November election that saw Democrats wipe out a 66-34 advantage held by Republicans in the House. But an ultimate resolution could still be far away. The loser could push for a second recount or ask the House to step in and pick a winner.
A drawing is held to resolve a tied election between Democrat Shelly Simonds and Republican David Yancey, with Yancey being randomly chosen as the winner.