Last month, on the day before the one-year anniversary of Donald Trump's election as President of the United States, the people of Virginia headed to the ballot box for their quadrennial state elections and delivered a thorough rebuke of Trumpism, handing the governorship to Democrat Ralph Northam and flipping at least 15 of the 100 seats in the House of Delegates from red to blue, preserving GOP control of the chamber by only the narrowest of margins, 51-49. In the 94th district, Republican incumbent David Yancey was initially projected to retain his seat, but the vote was close enough to trigger a mandatory recount, and on Tuesday, his Democratic challenger, Shelly Simonds, was declared the winner. The margin of victory? A single damn vote.

From the Washington Post:

Of the 23,866 votes cast in the Newport News district on Election Day, Yancey held a tenuous lead of just 10 votes going into Tuesday’s recount.

But five hours and much nailbiting later, after painstaking counting overseen by local elections officials and the clerk of court, Yancey’s lead narrowed before it gradually disappeared and then reversed, allowing Simonds to beat him by one vote.

The final tally: 11,608 for Simonds to 11,607 for Yancey.

11,608 to 11,607. Somewhere, Kevin Costner is nodding and smiling knowingly.

Upon final certification of the results, the House of Delegates will shift from its current 51-49 composition to an even 50-50 split. As the Post explains, there is no procedural mechanism for breaking ties, which means that any bill with a realistic shot of making it out of the chamber will have to earn at least one vote's worth of bipartisan support. Simonds' win also makes the next legislative session the first one in nearly two decades in which the GOP won't control the House.

Earlier today, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted to pass a historically unpopular tax reform bill that steals from the poor to pay the rich. (A drafting goof means they'll have to do it again tomorrow, but that vote is, in all likelihood, a formality). The Senate, which is also controlled by the GOP, will do the same later this evening. If watching elected officials tell blatant lies about selling out America's working class is something that infuriates you, the results in Virginia are a friendly reminder that you can do something about it. In what might eventually prove to be a delightful (if on-the-nose) bit of foreshadowing, House Speaker Paul Ryan lost his gavel immediately after pounding it to celebrate the bill's passage.

Every single one of the legislators who voted for this abomination is up for re-election in less than a year. And as Delegate-elect Shelly Simonds can attest, every single vote counts.