Delegates in the Valley call General Assembly "anything but normal" right now

Republican delegates Ben Cline and Steve Landes took to a town hall meeting at Blue Ridge Community College on Thursday night where they addressed the looming question of who will be in control of the General Assembly. Cline even called the assembly "anything but normal" right now.

Delegate for the 25th District, Landes explained why every single vote in an election counts.

"For folks who say, "My vote doesn't count," this is the perfect example of where it does," said Landes.

Democrats in Harrisonburg are holding out hope that the fifty-first seat is theirs, according to Harrisonburg Democratic Committee Chair, Alleyn Harned.

"We are hopeful that this final election will go in our favor," said Harned.

With the Senate a Republican majority by one vote, and the possibility of an even House, both Democrats and Republicans had one word in common if the house were to tie -- bipartisanship.

"I think democracy is a lot about collaboration, and so a tied General Assembly would be a major step forward compared to what we have today and it would allow some really unique power sharing, collaboration the kind that we all need to embrace," said Harned.

"I think that is the name of the game if there's a 50-50 split," said Landes.

Cline predicted they will pass non-controversial legislation, like mental health reform, and transportation system issues.

Their goal is to get to work.

"It's our job once we are elected to go down and get things done, so we'll try to accomplish that and work in a manner where we can actually get something accomplished," said Landes.

They are hoping for a decision soon, as the House organizes on January 10, 2018.