VIRGINIA, USA — For the first time in two decades, Virginia Democrats have taken control of the state Senate and House of Delegates.
Two Virginia Senate races and a House race were the focus in Hampton Roads on Tuesday.
Click here for all Virginia and North Carolina election results.
The hot races in Hampton Roads are as follows:
Virginia Senate 7th District
- Jen Kiggans (R)- WINNER
- Cheryl Turpin (D) - Conceded
The Associated Press announced GOP Jen Kiggans was elected to the State's Senate 7th District.
Before the results were in, Christopher Newport University Political Science professor Quentin Kidd said this is a race to watch.
"I find this race between Turpin and Kiggans to be interesting because it has come down essentially to a culture war race over issues like abortion and gay rights," he said. "So it really is both candidates appealing to their core bases."
Virginia Senate 8th District
- William DeSteph (R) WINNER
- Missy Cotter Smasal (D)
The Associated Press said GOP William DeSteph was elected to State Senate District 8 in Virginia.
Missy Smasal released the following statement to her supporters about her loss:
"Thank you for standing with me in this fight -- I'm thrilled that Democrats will now have the majority in the Virginia General Assembly and I can't wait to see what they accomplish.
We fought fo issues we cared about and ran an honest and direct campaign. We fought hard for important things and left it all on the field.
Bill DeSteph spent months running away from his record and pretending to be moderate. He wore a mask of civility while hiding behind others who ran a negative campaign for him.
When he couldn't defend his record, he chose obfuscation to win.
To all of our voters and supporters, thank you! When DeSteph doesn't act like the moderate he pretended to be, hold him accountable. Be loud. Call him out."
Before the results were given, Christopher Newport University Political Science Professor Quentin Kidd said the DeSteph-Cotter-Smasal race is huge, because of guns, and both parties will be watching how this contest turns out.
"One person sees this as an exploiting of a tragedy, the other sees it as we've got to deal with guns because the violence in this country is out of hand," Kidd said. "Voters will have the ultimate say on November 5th. And whatever voters say will have implications across the rest of the country next year."
Virginia House 83rd District
- Chris Stolle (R)
- Nancy Guy (D)
The Associated Press initially called the race for incumbent Del. Chris Stolle, but retracted it after Guy managed to gain a lead of just 18 votes.
Guy is claiming victory with unofficial results showing her the winner, but Stolle could challenge it and call for a recount.
Virginia House 94th District
- David Yancey (R)
- Shelly Simonds (D)- WINNER
- Michael Bartley (L)
The Associated Press announced Shelly Simonds was elected House of Delegates.
Democrat Shelly Simonds defeated Republican Del. David Yancey in Tuesday's race for the 94th District. The contest was a rematch after Simonds lost the tiebreaker two years ago.
The district was recently redrawn by a federal court, making it friendly to Democrats.
During the last 94th House District election in 2017, Democrat Shelly Simonds and Republican David Yancey each got exactly 11,608 votes. Under state law, a drawing of lots was called to break the tie. Each candidate's name was placed inside a separate film canister. Those were then placed into a bowl and one name was drawn: Yancey's.
Before the election, Christopher Newport University Political Science Professor Quentin Kidd expects it to be another close one.
"Who knows if it will be as close as it was last time?" he said. "The district is in Shelly Simonds' favor given the new lines. But anything can happen as we saw last time in this particular district race."
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.The Associated Press contributed to this report.