Friendly reminder, the 2021 elections in Pennsylvania and Virginia aren’t over yet. First, Pennsylvania:
A close race for one of two open seats on a key Pennsylvania appellate court has triggered an automatic recount.
Unofficial election results show Democrat Lori Dumas leading Republican Drew Crompton by 16,804 votes to secure a spot on Commonwealth Court. Dumas is a judge on the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, while Crompton is already an appointee to the bench.
In Pennsylvania, a recount is automatically triggered when the margin is .5% or less. As of Wednesday, the margin in the race was 0.33%.
Counties must complete the recount by noon Nov. 23 and submit the results to the Department of State no later than the following day, agency spokesperson Ellen Lyon said. The department estimated the statewide recount would cost at least $1.3 million.
The Pennsylvania Democratic Party is already helping Dumas get ready to win her recount. Received this e-mail this week from the Pennsylvania Democratic Party:
As the last votes are tabulated and certified, we're increasingly confident that Judge Lori Dumas has flipped a Republican seat on Pennsylvania's Commonwealth Court! But the margin is extremely tight, and it's likely we'll need to win a statewide recount.
A recount can be an ugly, costly process — especially when the opposition is eager to toss legal votes. We only have a few days to build a massive team of election lawyers and observers to protect Lori's lead.
We urgently need resources to win this recount. If you're able, please rush a $20 donation to hire election lawyers, recruit recount observers, and protect Lori's win!
Here's the status of this race as I write to you:
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1) Judge Dumas is likely the only 2021 candidate to flip a statewide seat in Pennsylvania — netting Dems +1 judge on state courts this year!
2) Judge Dumas currently leads her opponent by roughly 12,500 votes statewide. That's only 1/4 of a percentage point.
3) It could cost us six-figures to recruit/train recount observers and fight GOP attempts to disqualify valid votes. |
If you support Lori Dumas and believe that every vote must count, please chip in to help PA Democrats prevail in an expensive statewide recount!
Thank you,
Jason R. Henry
Executive Director
PA Democratic Party
Click here to donate to Dumas’ recount efforts.
Also, in Virginia:
Days after Democrats conceded control of the Virginia House of Delegates to Republicans, they walked back that concession as two key races in which the GOP holds razor-thin leads appeared headed for recounts.
As of Tuesday, vote counts show Republicans with 50 seats and holding slight leads in two additional seats that have still not been called by The Associated Press. Democrats have 47 seats and are leading in one other district that has not been called.
In both districts where Republicans are leading, the margins are under 0.5%, which allows candidates to request state-funded recounts.
In District 91, Democrat incumbent Del. Martha Mugler conceded to Republican challenger A.C. Cordoza Friday. Mugler's concession was quickly followed by a statement from Democratic House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn, who acknowledged that with Mugler's concession, the Republicans had control of the House, with 51 seats.
But Mugler walked back her concession over the weekend after final absentee and provisional ballots were tallied and Cordoza's lead shrunk to just 94 votes out of 27,388 votes counted.
In House District 85, Republican challenger Karen Greenhalgh's lead over Democratic incumbent Del. Alex Askew narrowed to just 127 votes out of 28,413 votes counted after final absentee and provisional ballots were tallied.
Filler-Corn also appeared to temper her concession.
“The speaker's stance is that there are provisions in place to make sure we can be certain what the outcomes are, and it's always good to check. We’re just seeing what the outcome is going to be,” Filler-Corn spokesperson Sigalle Reshef said Tuesday.
Here’s the deal on the Virginia recounts:
"If you're within 1% to .51%, you have to foot the bill, you as the candidate. Anything less than that, the city and state pay for that recount process," Jeff Marks said, the chairman of the Virginia Beach Electoral Board.
According to Marks, the re-tallying process would itself take about a day, but the entire process might take up between 2-3 weeks.
"The recount doesn't start until the candidate requesting it files a petition with the court," Marks said, who says in the event of a recount, would try to finalize the results by mid-December.
"My experience at least anecdotally is that the numbers do change. It's never been anything significant, it hasn't changed the outcome but numbers do change."
If the recounts go our way, the Virginia House of Delegates will be a 50-50 split, which is important to stopping Governor-Elect Glenn Youngkin (R. VA) from enforcing his extreme agenda. Also:
The late maneuvering illustrates the high stakes for Democrats, with gridlock in Richmond likely, after Republicans picked up control of Virginia’s executive branch, with Glenn Youngkin the governor-elect, Winsome E. Sears the next lieutenant governor and Del. Jason S. Miyares (R-Virginia Beach) the next attorney general.
Democrats hold a slim 21-to-19 majority in the state Senate, which was not up for election this year — presenting an obstacle for the GOP in fully pursuing its agenda if its control of the House holds.
With the vote count in both those races being so close, it could flip either way but we have to be ready. Click below to donate and get involved with the recount efforts for these two Virginia Democrats:
Martha Mugler
Alex Askew