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Virginia's 94th House of Delegates district elects one of the 100 members of theVirginia House of Delegates, the lower house of the state'sbicameral legislature. The district is made up of part ofNewport News, Virginia.[1][2]
The district has been represented by DemocratShelly Simonds since 2020.[3][4] In 2017, an extremely close race in this district made national headlines. Following a three-judge panel decision declaring the race a tie, the winner of the 2017 general election was determinedby lot withDavid Yancey winning.[5][6][7]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | David Yancey (incumbent) | 11,001 | 51.2 | |
| Democratic | Robert Farinholt, Jr. | 10,458 | 48.6 | |
| Write-in | 47 | 0.2 | ||
| Total votes | 21,506 | 100.0 | ||
| Republicanhold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | David Yancey (incumbent) | 8,140 | 57.6 | |
| Democratic | Shelly Simonds | 6,002 | 42.4 | |
| Total votes | 14,142 | 100.0 | ||
| Republicanhold | ||||
The district's election in 2017 was unusually close.Shelly Simonds challenged Yancey for the second time. Unofficial election night results showed Yancey with a 12-vote lead.[10] The race had statewide significance because if Yancey were to win, Republicans would hold a majority in the House of Delegates, but if Simonds were to win, the parties would each have 50 seats, which would have required a power-sharing agreement in the chamber. On November 20, the Virginia State Board of Elections certified Yancey as the winner by 10 votes. Simonds requested a recount.[10] The recount gave Simonds the win by a single vote.[11] Following this, a three-judge panel decided that a potential overvote ballot should be counted for Yancey, thus tying the race. The potential overvote ballot shows a vote for both Simonds and Yancey with Simonds' crossed out, but also shows the vote for the governor crossed out.[12] The winner was set to be decided based on drawing a name out of a bowl on December 27.[13] Appeals by Simonds' campaign postponed the drawing until January 4, 2018. At that time, David Yancey's name was drawn by lot and he was declared the winner.[7] The loser of such a drawing maintains the right to ask for another recount.[5][6] On January 10, 2018, Simonds declared that she would not seek a second recount and that she was conceding the race to Yancey.[14]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | David Yancey (incumbent) | 11,608 | 48.59 | |
| Democratic | Shelly Simonds | 11,608 | 48.59 | |
| Libertarian | Michael Bartley | 675 | 2.83 | |
| Total votes | 23,891 | 100.0 | ||
| Republicanhold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Shelly Simonds | 11,563 | 57.7 | |
| Republican | David Yancey (incumbent) | 8,070 | 40.3 | |
| Libertarian | Michael Bartley | 376 | 1.9 | |
| Write-in | 25 | 0.1 | ||
| Total votes | 20,034 | 100.0 | ||
| Democraticgain fromRepublican | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Shelly Simonds (incumbent) | 13,725 | 56.0 | |
| Republican | Russ Harper | 10,734 | 43.8 | |
| Write-in | 54 | 0.2 | ||
| Total votes | 24,513 | 100.0 | ||
| Democratichold | ||||
| Delegate | Party | Years | Electoral history |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alan Diamonstein | Democratic | January 12, 1983 – January 9, 2002 | Ran for Lieutenant Governor |
| Glenn Oder | Republican | January 9, 2002 – August 31, 2011 | Resigned |
| David Yancey | Republican | January 11, 2012 – January 8, 2020 | Lost reelection |
| Shelly Simonds | Democratic | January 8, 2020 – present | First elected in 2019 |
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