Democratic challenger in 82nd House race confident to be 'out on top' once all votes are counted
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PETERSBURG – Incumbent Del. Kim Taylor, R-Dinwiddie County, continues to claim victory in the razor-thin 82nd House District contest, going on national television Wednesday morning to say she was “thrilled to win” the race, even though it has not been called in her favor.
In the meantime, Democratic challenger Kimberly Pope Adams is not conceding the election. Shortly after Taylor went on the “Fox & Friends” morning news program to declare her victory, Adams issued a statement saying that the 173-vote margin means the election “is too close to call.”
With everything but provisional ballots counted, the race stands at 14,141 votes for Taylor and 13,968 for Adams. From a percentage standpoint, Taylor garnered 50.23% of the vote to Adams’ 49.67%. The difference of 0.56% could prompt a recount, especially if that dips below the 0.5% margin where the state would pay for the recount instead of the campaigns.
The Taylor-Adams race was called the most competitive of all 100 House contests by the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project and other observers.
For a while Tuesday night, it appeared as if first-time candidate Adams would pull off an upset. After jumping out to a huge lead with her 5,400-vote victory margin in Petersburg, the gap started to narrow when Dinwiddie County swung to Taylor with 62% of the vote. Taylor was expected to do well in her home precinct of Dinwiddie as well as in equally conservative Prince George County.
Meanwhile at the other end of the district in Surry County – whose voter base tends to tilt toward the Democrats – early results also had Adams in front. But as the night wore on and the Prince George numbers started trickling in, Adams’ 2,000-vote lead eventually shrank to just 576 votes.
By midnight when all of Prince George was reported, Taylor triumphed with a 2,200-vote margin to finally overcome Adams. Around that same time, the final results from Surry were in, and Taylor had won by just 18 votes.
The Republican incumbent immediately declared victory despite the slim margin. Wednesday morning on Fox & Friends, Taylor responded to co-anchor Ainsley Earhardt’s comment that “it is looking like you’re going to win.”
“I’m thrilled to win and represent the 82nd House District,” Taylor said. She called the contest “a long, difficult race for me” and credited her conservative stands on public safety “the top issue” in the election.
She knocked Adams’ campaign advertising touting the Democrat as a legal gun owner who would look out for police issues. “My opponent took a conservative approach [on law enforcement] and it simply was not true,” she said on the program.
In Virginia, provisional ballots are cast by voters whose qualifications are in question. It allows them to still vote in the election, but the determination is done separately from the regular ballots. The estimated total number of provisional ballots district-wide is 187 and will be counted Monday afternoon.
“This race is tight, and it’s important for the health of our democracy and the confidence of the voters that every single vote is counted before a winner is declared,” Adams said in her statement. “This campaign is, and always has been, about building a future for Petersburg, Dinwiddie County, Surry County, and Prince George County where no one is left behind. No matter where you live, how much money you have, or what party you’re a member of, your freedoms are protected, your family is safe, and you have a real shot at success. This campaign is confident that when all the votes are counted, that message will have us out on top.”
As it stands now, whoever is declared the winner likely will not affect the balance of power in the House of Delegates. Democrats scored enough known victories to take back control with at least 51 of the 100 seats. Democrats also held on to the slight edge in the state Senate, giving Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin some legislative political hostility toward him in the last two years of his term.
At a news conference in Richmond Wednesday afternoon, Youngkin said he was "a little disappointed" with the overall outcome of the legislative elections but still hoped for success across party lines.
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Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) is an award-winning journalist who covers breaking news, government and politics. Reach him at batkinson@progress-index.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @BAtkinson_PI.
This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: House race in Petersburg area still too close to call
