Virginia’s Tied Race
You might think the 2017 elections are over and history, but you’d be wrong. There is one more race to be determined, in the Virginia House of Delegates. Incredibly, that race is exactly tied, with 11,608 votes apiece. The final outcome will be decided, not by any legal challenge or recount, but by the toss of a coin.
The result couldn’t be more important, as it will determine which Party controls Virginia’s House of Delegates. Republicans have dominated the chamber for almost twenty years, and going into this election had a 66-34 seat majority. But backlash against Trump, largely from minorities and women, flipped 16 seats from Red to Blue, bringing parity to the House.
Virginia’s House of Delegates: Party control will come down to one vote in one district.
That is, as of November 27th, when a razor-thin majority of victory for the Republican incumbent in the 94th District, comprising Newport News and its environs, triggered an automatic recount. Republican David Yancey was ahead by just 10 votes out of 22,000+ cast, but the recount gave his Democratic challenger Shelly Simonds a one-vote lead, announced on December 19. Republicans promptly went to court to quarrel over one uncounted ballot, which showed filled-in circles for both Yancey and Simonds, and had been disqualified. A panel of three judges decided that an additional stroke mark by the voter, apparently crossing out the Simonds circle, and the fact that the rest of the ballot showed Republican choices, indicated the intent was to vote for Yancey, and gave the count to him, thus bringing the two candidates an equal tally in the race. Who says your vote doesn’t count?
The disputed ballot; accepted by a three-judge panel as a vote for incumbent Yancey, the race is now exactly tied at 11,608 votes apiece.
The final result will be determined sometime the week of December 24th, by an as-yet-unannounced means, which could be pulling a name out of a hat, drawing straws, or tossing a coin. If Yancey wins the toss, Republicans retain the majority, 51-49; if Simonds wins, the chamber will be split evenly, and a power-sharing arrangement will have to be devised, something which has not existed in Virginia since the mid-‘90s. In either event, the loser of the toss has the right to appeal and demand yet another recount, potentially extending this already protracted contest well into 2018.
The skies vividly portray the situation as of December 20th, 2017, when the judges’ decision created a tie. Asteroid Shelly at 24 Leo is in an exact Grand Trine with Venus at 24 Sagittarius and Uranus at 24 Aries, indicating a female (Venus), specifically Simonds (Shelly), in some sort of unexpected upset (Uranus). With Venus is the Sun at 29 Sagittarius, the focus of the day, which exactly opposes asteroid Virginia at 29 Gemini, providing the venue for the event and transforming the Grand Trine into a Kite pattern. Shelly is in a powerful, entrenched position, motionless in the sky at its retrograde station degree, which occurred just four days prior.
Republican incumbent delegate David Yancey – talking on the new invisible iPhone, assessing his mental state, or cleaning out ear wax? You decide.
Asteroid Simmons (phonetic match for Simonds) at 7 Leo is also active, in a T-Square with asteroid Davida (for David) at 4 Aquarius, which it opposes (much as Simonds and Yancey opposed each other as challenger and incumbent), both points squaring Mars (contests, campaigns) at 7 Scorpio. Asteroid Yancey is in the mix as well; from 13 Cancer Yancey is closely trine Jupiter at 14 Scorpio, and exactly inconjunct Mercury, ruling the voting and tabulation processes, at 13 Sagittarius. Mercury is of course retrograde at this time, indicating the need for multiple recounts, and also squared to Neptune at 11 Pisces, suggesting confusion and uncertainty, as well as fluctuation in the final tally. Oddly, asteroid Ti (phonetic match for “tie”) appears at 17 Aquarius, broadly opposing Shelly, inconjunct Yancey, squared Jupiter and sextile Mercury! Asteroid Yancey also widely opposes Pluto at 18 Capricorn, but with Pluto is asteroid Victoria, named for the Roman goddess of victory, perhaps granting the nod to Yancey. With Davida conjoined asteroid Nike, Victoria’s Greek counterpart, at 8 Aquarius, and given Yancey’s supportive trine to Jupiter, the planet ruling both politics and “luck”, it looks like David Yancey may have an edge on the outcome of that coin toss.
Democrat challenger Shelly Simonds, reacting to her brief moment of victory after the recount results were announced, giving her a one vote lead.
No birth data was available for Simonds, but an examination of Yancey’s birth chart, born 6 April 1972, bears out a probable victory for the Republican incumbent. Yancey ‘s natal Davida lies at 6 Aquarius, conjoined the transit Davida/Nike positions, thus Yancey is undergoing a double dose of Nike’s victory-related energies, linked in both the transit sky and his nativity, while he navigates his impending “Davida Return”. Yancey also sports a natal pairing of Nike at 4 Capricorn with Jupiter at 7, implying he may have a certain degree of luck in the political realm.
Additionally the transit placement of Victoria at 19 Capricorn forms a T-Square with his natal opposition from the Sun at 16 Aries to Uranus at 16 Libra, which is exact. We might credit transit Simonds’ exact trine to transit Uranus, with both objects at station, as determinative of an upset win for the Democrat, but with Yancey a naturally Uranian type due to the solar opposition, all bets in that regard are off. The race has already proved its Uranian bona fides, with three successive swings from one candidate to the other, and the ancillary Victoria/Nike placements support Yancey, so come next week, I’m expecting the Republican to come out on top, whatever technique they use to decide the matter.
But I’ll be very happy to be proved wrong…
UPDATE: 1/4/2018
After a legal challenge from Simonds disputing the validity of counting that spoiled ballot, which delayed a resolution of the outcome, Virginia legislators finally drew lots on this tied election on Thursday, January 4th, and, as anticipated in the article above, the Republican candidate won. David Yancey’s retention of his seat grants the GOP a one-vote majority in the Virginia House of Delegates.
It’s always nice to be right in advance, but in this case, I’d have preferred to be wrong.
