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With A Few Races Still Undecided, Talk of Power Sharing Picks Up in Richmond

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Democrats are within striking distance of taking control of the House of Delegates. But as Michael Pope reports, they’re not there yet.

The fate of the House of Delegates won’t be known for at least a month, as a handful of recounts are moving forward in contested races. Democratic Leader David Toscano says whatever the outcome of those recounts, Democrats and Republicans will need to find some way of sharing power.

“There is always a degree of horse trading in politics, and people often have discussions about what committees they want to be on and where they want to be and there will be some of that discussion whether we’re 50/50 or 51/49.”

Republicans have been in control of the House for almost two decades, and many of the subcommittees have only one or two Democrats. So the composition of the committees will be a key point of debate — after the recounts are settled. For now, this much is clear — the delegates roaming the halls in Richmond will look much different.

Here’s Katie Baker with the Virginia Democrats.

“We have a few historic firsts, including the first Asian American woman elected, the first two Latino women elected, the first transgender woman and the first lesbian women elected to the House of Delegates.”

Republicans weren’t available to be interviewed for this story, but they sent a written statements saying they would be closely monitoring the canvasses.

This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.

Michael Pope is an author and journalist who lives in Old Town Alexandria.
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