VA delegate winner rips Republican incumbent's 'political stunt' for convincing judge to overturn one-vote victory

Virginia House of Delegates candidate Shelly Simonds was thrust into the national spotlight twice this week -- first for apparently winning a very tight local legislative race by a single vote on Tuesday, and again on Wednesday when a judge threw that victory out over a "questionable" ballot that had both candidates names filled in, resulting in a tie.

In a Thursday appearance on MSNBC with host Ali Velshi, Simonds described the "stunt" that led to her single-vote victory becoming a tie.

After the recount, which Democrats and Republicans alike signed off on, Simonds said her "opponent really pulled a stunt the next day."

"They came in and said from front of the judges they wanted a re-do on one ballot," she described. "If we were going to be pulling out individual ballots, you can believe me, we would have had a few we would have wanted the judges to look at as well."

The deciding ballot, as pictured above, shows both the ovals next to both Simonds and David Yancey, her Republican opponent, filled in. The oval next to Simonds' name is crossed out, leading the three-judge panel who reviewed it to call it a vote for the Republican incumbent Yancey.

"It was really very unfair that the judges looked at one ballot that my opponents' team had pulled out," Simonds said.

Watch Simonds discuss her "rollercoaster" week below, via MSNBC.