David Etienne Yancey (born April 6, 1972) is an

American politician The politics of the United States function within a framework of a constitutional federal republic and presidential system, with three distinct branches that share powers. These are: the U.S. Congress which forms the legislative branch, a bi ...

. A

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, he was elected to the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-number ...

in 2011. He the 94th district.

Early life, education, business career

Yancey was born in Newport News, Virginia. He graduated from Peninsula Catholic High School in 1990, and received a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

and history from the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

in 1995. In 2003 Yancey started a real estate development and property management firm, and in 2009 he went into

commercial fishing Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for commercial profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice it as an industry must often ...

Political career

On August 9, 2011, the 94th district incumbent and Republican nominee, Glenn Oder, announced his resignation from the House of Delegates to become the executive director of the Fort Monroe Authority, overseeing the disposal of the

Fort Monroe Fort Monroe, managed by partnership between the Fort Monroe Authority for the Commonwealth of Virginia, the National Park Service as the Fort Monroe National Monument, and the City of Hampton, is a former military installation in Hampton, Virgi ...

military reservation after the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

's closing of the base. Two days later, Yancey was chosen to replace him on the November ballot. Yancey then defeated Democratic lawyer Gary R. West. Yancey was reelected in 2013, defeating Democrat Robert Farinholt, 51-49%. He was reelected again in 2015, defeating Democrat

Shelly Simonds Shelly Anne Simonds (born November 9, 1967) is an American educator and politician serving in the Virginia House of Delegates, representing the 94th district. She was first elected in 2019. During the 2013 and 2017 elections, Simonds was Democra ...

, 57%-42%.

2017 election and tie

In the 2017 general election, David Yancey faced off against challenger

, and the election resulted in a tie. Unofficial election night results showed Yancey with a 12-vote lead. Simonds requested a recount, to which she was entitled under state law, which provides for recounts when less than 1% of the vote separates two candidates. The race was significant because the Republicans' 51–49 majority in the House of Delegates depended on Yancey's win. After provisional ballots were counted, Yancey's lead decreased to 10 votes.

Simonds Simonds may refer to: People *D'Marcus Simonds (born 1997), American basketball player *Gavin Simonds, 1st Viscount Simonds (1881–1971), British judge *George Blackall Simonds (1843–1929), English sculptor *Major General George S. Simonds (1874 ...

and the

Democratic Party of Virginia The Democratic Party of Virginia (DPVA/VA Dems) is the Virginia affiliate of the Democratic Party based in Richmond, Virginia. Historically, the Democratic Party has dominated Virginia politics. Since the 1851 Virginia gubernatorial election, the ...

filed an emergency motion with a circuit court to receive the names of all rejected absentee ballots; after receiving the names, they got another court order for a single ballot to be unsealed, and it was found that the ballot had not been signed properly and remained rejected. On November 20, the Virginia State Board of Elections certified Yancey as the winner by 10 votes. On December 19, 2017 the recount was completed and gave

the victory by one vote. The next day, the Yancey campaign asked a court to examine a ballot that had been discounted. The ballot showed both bubbles for Yancey and Simonds filled in, but with a slash through Simonds's name. The voter had voted for all other Republican candidates on the ballot. The three-judge panel determined the voter's intent was to vote for Yancey and awarded him the vote, resulting in a tie. Under Virginia state law, the winner is decided randomly by lot, though the loser can subsequently ask for another recount. On January 4, 2018, the Virginia Election Board certified that Yancey was the winner after a drawing by lot. Yancey was named the winner only after his name was randomly drawn out of a ceramic bowl. Simonds declined to request another recount, stating that "she did not expect to prevail in a dispute that captured national attention". In May 2018, it was revealed that an error by local election officials caused 26 voters to cast ballots in the 93rd district when should have cast them in the district that Yancey won. Records indicate that 17 of the 26 voters were likely to vote Democratic because they had previously voted in Democratic primaries while only one voter had voted in a Republican primary. Since the 2017 election was decided by such narrow margins, the 26 misaligned votes may have cost Democrats the seat and thus majority control in the Virginia House.

2019 election

After the 2017 election, the 94th district underwent heavy redistricting. Yancey was defeated by his 2017 opponent, Democrat Shelly Simonds, who received 57.7% of the vote.

References

External links