SURRY, Va. — The race for who controls Virginia's General Assembly may be over, but that doesn't mean every race has been decided.
In Virginia's 82nd House District — a sprawling distinct that covers Petersburg and parts of Dinwiddie south of Richmond as well as Surry County to the east — saw a contest between incumbent Republican Del. Kim Taylor and Democratic challenger Kimberly Pope Adams.
Early election night results showed Taylor holding a slim lead of a few hundred votes. The Associated Press did not call the race for the Republican, but Taylor did declare victory late that night.
But as votes continued to be counted in the days following the election, Taylor's slim lead shrank even further, although it appeared to still be enough: after the Virginia Department of Elections said all votes had been tabulated, Taylor remained in the lead, albeit by a razor-thin margin of 78 votes.
"The people have spoken, the votes have been counted, and we made history again," Taylor said in a statement on Nov. 13. "After a week of canvassing and counting outstanding votes, the Department of Elections concluded what we knew on election night: our campaign won."
Virginia law allows candidates to seek a recount if the margin is less than 1%, and the Department of Elections' results showed Taylor defeated Pope Adams by just 0.27%.
On Thursday, Pope Adams' campaign said she would seek a recount to verify the results.
"The people of the 82nd House District deserve to know with absolute certainty who is the winner of this race and Virginia law affords them that right," she said in a statement.
She went on to say, "While I am hopeful of the outcome, I will respect the results."
Virginia's Board of Elections will meet to certify the results of the election on December 4, at which time the recount process can begin.