 All too often we hear people say they didn't vote due to the mistaken belief that their individual vote doesn't 'really' matter. Well, we beg to differ... Since the founding of our nation, there have been 12 races that ended in a tie, 71 races decided by 10 votes or less, and 26 races decided by a single vote (that's right - ONE PERSON.) Here is a collection of such tight races where one - or just a few - votes really would have made all the difference: *2017: Virginia House of Delegates. The contest between Republican incumbent David Yancey and his challenger Shelly Simmonds ended with an original count of Yancey ahead by 13 votes. Following a recount, Yancey trailed Simmonds by one vote out of some 46,000 total votes. A panel of judges appointed by the Virginia State Supreme Court found a ballot to be disputed and the panel ruled the race a tie. The seat eventually went to Yancey after a random draw. Go figure. The result of this race gave the Republican party control of the House 51-49. Had that random draw gone the other way, or had just one or two more people shown up to vote and had Simmonds win, the House would have been deadlocked. *2008: U.S. Senate, Minnesota. Al Franken defeated Norm Coleman by just 312 votes out of 1,212,629 cast for the winner! Talk about a nail biter - and for a U.S. Senate race no less! *2004: Governor, Washington. Democrat Christine Gregoire defeated Republican Dino Rossi for the State's highest office by just 133 votes! *2002: Connecticut House of Representatives. Republican Anne Ruwet defeated Democrat John Kovaleski by ONE VOTE in a 3,236-3,235 finish. *2000: President of the United States: Who could forget this race?!? 537 votes made all the difference in Florida for fmr President George W. Bush. With 2,912,790 votes cast for the winner, this represents a margin of victory of just 0.009215%!!! In the same contest, fmr VP, Al Gore defeated GWB in New Mexico by just 366 votes! *1998: U.S. Senate, Nevada. Democratic Incumbent, Harry Reid, defeated John Ensign by just 401 votes! Senator Reid would go on to be the Senate Majority Leader from 2007 to 2015. What a difference those just 401 votes made on history! *1948: U.S. Senate, Texas Democratic Primaries: Future President Lyndon B. Johnson defeated Coke Stevenson by just 87 votes. This was LBJ's first Senate term. Had 88 people voted the other way, Lyndon Johnson may have never been Vice President and eventually, President of the United States. And races like this have been happening since the very early days of our Nation..! 1868: US House of Representatives, North Carolina (7th District). Alexander Jones defeated Plato Durham by just ONE VOTE. Getting the picture???  We cannot stress this strongly enough! YOUR vote - yes, YOUR vote - may be one of the ones that changes and shapes history. It has happened many times before. It will happen again. Get out and vote like your future life depends upon your vote and your vote alone. Because it just might. And you shouldn't just vote to say that you did. You should get informed and vote your conscience. Whatever it may be. And VoterEngage is here to help. We know time is tight, but in just 10 minutes you could discover candidates who match your interests and learn a ton about the issues at the same time. It's simple, easy, non-partisan, and free. Click the button below to begin discovering your candidate matches and please share it with your friends! Let's all get out and rock the vote like we've never rocked the vote before!!!!  |
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