VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — It’s official, Democrat Nancy Guy is the winner in the 83rd House of Delegates race.
Forty-three days after the November general election, a three-judge panel headed by Chief Circuit Court Judge Glenn Croshaw signed the final order that Delegate-elect Guy will be sworn in as delegate of the 83rd District on January 8th when the General Assembly reconvenes.
The race was officially over Wednesday after the judges certified the recount results — Guy won by 40 votes.
The vote margin changed slightly from last week’s recount — from 41 to 40 –between Guy and incumbent Republican Chris Stolle.
Guy officially finished with 10,987 votes to Stolle’s 10,947, a difference of just 0.18%.
Stolle filed for a recount back on November, when the margin of victory was then 27 votes in favor of Guy.
Guy’s attorney, Jeffrey Breit, said one of three contested votes brought before the judges on Wednesday went toward Stolle.
The judges considered three provisional ballots to determine voters’ intents. One had a mark over the ‘C’ in Christopher Stolle, not in the oval, but the judges declared it a vote for Stolle.
There was another ballot with a slight faint mark in the “Stolle” oval, but the judges decided they could not determine the voter’s intent. The third ballot had a solid mark between the two names on the ballot, but not in either of the candidates’ ovals on the ballot.
Reached at home Wednesday, Guy told WAVY.com she was “relieved” about the outcome of the recount.
“I am enormously relieved,” she said. “We were always confident that the recount was going to break our way, but there is always this element of doubt, and I’m glad to have the asterix removed from my name.”
“I don’t think all the scary stuff that people are worried about [what Democrats will do with their newfound power] is going to be founded,” Breit said. “I think Democrats will govern with moderation, and I think Nancy is going to do a great job because she has such a great background to help govern.”
Guy told WAVY.com what she’s been doing since the election in November.
“I have been wrapping up a campaign, dealing with the recount, and gearing up to serve, and now I’m glad 100 percent of my energy can be dedicated on the last thing — and that is serving,” she said.
Guy’s campaign was heavily financed by presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg, who contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to her campaign. Both Bloomberg’s and Guy’s big issue is “reasonable gun control.”
“The polling is clear: The vast number of Virginians want reasonable gun safety with provisions like universal background checks, one gun a month, report lost or stolen guns like red flag laws that are crafted properly, and I do not believe they infringe on people’s constitutional rights, and I don’t believe people should be afraid of the provisions,” Guy said.
The General Assembly session begins Jan. 8.
Stolle already congratulated Guy on winning the race Friday afternoon during a phone call.
“I got a phone call from Del. Stolle congratulating me on my win, and I am up here in the Capitol already getting the training to represent the people of the 83rd House District,” Guy told 10 On Your Side on a Facetime call Friday.
Guy joins a new Democratic majority in the House of Delegates, after the November election saw Democrats win both houses of the General Assembly for the first time in two decades.