Adams seeks recount of House District 82 votes
Published 10:24 am Friday, November 17, 2023
- Kimberly Pope Adams
Democratic candidate Kimberly Pope Adams is seeking a recount of the votes cast in her race against Del. Kim Taylor, R-Petersburg, for the 82nd House of Delegates District.
According to unofficial results, Taylor received just over 50% of more than 28,000 votes across the district, which includes Surry County, the city of Petersburg and parts of Dinwiddie and Prince George counties. Taylor received 14,286 votes while Adams received 14,208, creating a margin of only 78 votes between the two candidates. Another 48 votes, accounting for 0.17% of the total, went to write-in candidates.
Taylor declared victory just after midnight on Nov. 8. Adams, however, is still hopeful that a recount could still swing the election in her favor.
“The results of this election are far too close for anyone to declare outright victory,” Adams said in a Nov. 16 statement. “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. For that reason, I am seeking a recount of the vote.
“I will allow the process to take the full time and effort necessary to ensure accuracy of the count. While I am hopeful of the outcome, I will respect the results.”
“We had a historic win on November 7th, with a close margin — a recount is a legal way to make sure every legal vote is counted,” Taylor said. “We are confident that the results of this election will remain unchanged — upholding our victory and the people’s choice on Election Day.”
Unofficial results as of Nov. 17 showed Taylor having carried Surry, which accounts for 8.8% of the district’s total registered voters, by a margin of 18 votes.
Taylor carried roughly two-thirds of the vote in Dinwiddie and Prince George, while Adams carried Petersburg with a landslide 86% of the city’s 7,549 votes.
Virginia law allows candidates to seek a recount when the margin separating them is less than 1% of the total votes cast. Virginia’s Board of Education is expected to certify the results of the Nov. 7 elections on Dec. 4.
