The Virginian-Pilot
©
VIRGINIA BEACH
City Councilman Ron Villanueva was certified the winner of the 21st District House seat late Tuesday by a margin of 13 votes, but the race is likely to go into a recount.
The Republican narrowed his initial
16-vote lead over incumbent Del. Bobby Mathieson after the city’s Electoral Board reviewed rejected absentee votes and provisional ballots.
“It’s been quite a journey, and I look forward to serving the citizens of Virginia Beach,” Villanueva said.
Jack Young, an attorney for Mathieson, said the vote-count process, including the discovery of 25 unaccounted-for absentee ballots citywide, has been disturbing.
“I think the recount will be in the best interest of the 21st District,” Young said.
Based on state law, Mathieson would be eligible to ask for a recount. The margin is so small that the city would pay for it, according to the law.
The 25 missing ballots seemed to involve the races in the 82nd, 83rd and 84th districts, not the 21st District, said Tim Barrow, a member of Virginia Beach’s Electoral Board.
Board members spent about an hour trying to track those votes and adding numbers on pink and blue Post-it Notes .
A discrepancy between the ballots counted by the machine and the number of names written in a poll book isn’t unusual, Barrow said, but “25, that’s a larger number than we typically see.”
The Electoral Board resumed its 21st District vote review Tuesday after a Circuit Court judge lifted an injunction that halted the official count Thursday.
Mathieson’s camp requested the injunction over concerns about how the absentee ballots were handled on Election Day. Virginia Beach Commissioner of Revenue Phil Kellam, a Democrat, said he saw poll workers looking through the garbage can that night for documentation about rejected absentee ballots.
Beach election officials reviewed the reasons for the rejected absentee ballots Tuesday. After some back-and-forth , they reinstated two of the 11 rejected votes in the race.
Democrats had hoped the board would have included more ballots, increasing the chances of narrowing the gap between Mathieson and Villanueva.
The board had the discretion to include more of the rejected absentee ballots, Young said.
Barrow disagreed. Based on the State Board of Election’s guidance, local officials feel they didn’t have much choice, Barrow said.
Villanueva’s representatives said the Democrats were grasping for any votes and that the process has been fair.
Deirdre Fernandes, (757) 222-5121, deirdre.fernandes@pilotonline.com
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delusional
unemployment at 10%, banks still teetering on collapse because the criminals that ran them into the ground are still there, GMAC asking for another bailout so they can finance GM (now owned by US taxpayers)cars that barely sell, empty stores, an idiot for a president, US deficit completely out of control, schools that can't/won't teach, "parents" that generate children they treat like baggage......I could go on and on.....yep things are lookin up......what ya got in that pipe mike????
Same old diatribe
Throw money at problems, raise taxes and call it victory that's what tax and spend posters want. They complain when a party holds the line on excessive spending. The last set of elections indicate that's what voters want. Use constraint, tighten your belt and solve problems with more than tax increase. We pay enough already!!!!
Brief History Lesson
The irony of this District is that John Welch lost his seat to Bobby because Welech failed to support a solution for transportation, and now a moderate republican wins it back. This says more about the particular climate of this election cycle than about the candidates. This may have been the apex of republican electoral success, especially if they read this as justification for simply failing to govern as was the situation under Gilmore. Fact is, the economy is already improving, if people kept investing, their 401(k)s are about back to where they were. Houses are starting to sell, stores have some customers back, offices are leasing up, and employment is starting back up, albeit too slowly. But the electoral environment next time will be much different than this time. If the republicans don't solve transportation, they will be toast, and frankly, they ought to be.
hahahahahahaha
Mike, you're the only man in America who thinks Welch lost because he didn't raise taxes.
The fount of all knowledge
Its amazing how you view yourself as an expert in so many areas. Take why a candidate lost an election. You are just so cocksure of yourself. Do you have trouble getting your large ego through doorways?
■Villanueva declared winner
To ALL ;regardless of which party ;in Virginia Beach; it is the one with the most noney and the one who will conform to having this city ,rid themselfs of all middle class people. Wake up and attend City Council Meetings, or at least take the time to watch it on local t.v. Listen to what is being said.You must fit in a certain income bracket and are willing to conform to city leaders in this group; you better move you can not afford it. Did anyone read Villanueva's qualifications ? compare them to Mathieson's. Villanueva has no more than most of us.. and this is the experience wanted ? it was because he fits in . Voting confusing ( on purpose maybe ? )
Last Time
I checked a winner is determined by 1 vote - period. By the way, I thought the 21st had electronic machines. No further need to waste taxpayer money to achieve the same outcome. Have a splendid Veterans' Day and a BIG Thank you to those who have served and are serving !!!
Need for action
Assuming the recount does not change the results, Ron will be a new delegate and join an essentially complete republican line up in our delegation. Ron is familiar with the cuts made by the Legislature to local government, especially for roads, but also for schools. The road situation is the most deplorable as the City will get no future money for local road projects, no matter how needed they are. The question, will a freshman delegate vigorously push for a solution within a party that just received a very strong mandate for no new taxes? I guess the answer is obvious, but we can hope that Ron at least knows of the implications for local governments of the disastrous policies pursued by the republicans in the House, policies that have dismantled a once efficient transportation system, and my hope is he will be a voice of rationality and will speak truth to power when Howell calls for the votes.
The difference
1. Ron will bring someone with local government experience to Richmond. He knows how their heavy-handed ways impact local governments. Sure, Bobby is a retired local cop, but he was no more in a position to understand local government management issues than I am!
2. Ron has a history of reaching across party lines, up to but obviously excluding this highly partisan election. A 13-vote win is a wake up call. Bobby was sent packing not because he was a bad guy, just that he was ineffective. Ron needs to have substantive legislation passed during his term.
3. Finally, Ron is no friend of the fringe VBTA/Libertarian/etc. groups. As a result, we can expect him to be a moderate leader.
It's not to often but now I would have to
agree with MB's comment. Personally, I've lost faith in anyone that rides the train claiming to be in the "R" camp. The current term for these is "RINO".
OVerall there's something about Richmond that makes the majority of our elected representatives go ga-ga and thus, act accordingly.