Republican David Yancey will keep his seat in the Virginia House of Delegates after a state official pulled his name out of a bowl Thursday , deciding a contest that ended in a tie in November.

Yancey and Democrat Shelly Simonds each received 11,608 votes in their Newport News-based district. Initial results showed Yancey leading by just 10 votes. A recount gave Simonds a one-vote edge. But Republicans challenged a single ballot, resulting in a tie.

Democrats sued to overturn the challenge, but on Wednesday a three-judge panel rejected their complaint. That led to Thursday’s drawing, in Richmond, out of a special bowl crafted by the resident potter at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

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Yancey would be the 51st Republican in the 100-member House of Delegates. Before November’s elections, Republicans held 66 seats. But Democrats put up a surprisingly strong showing, netting 15 Republican-held seats — and coming within a single vote of claiming a tie.