Mark Obenshain (R) looks to lose the election for Virginia Attorney General. The state board of elections is set to certify Mark Herring as the winner today. Obenshain's next option would be a taxpayer-funded recount. However, that will do little to change the outcome of the election.
However, Obenshain has one more dirty trick up his sleeve. It's called a "nuclear option":
Republican Mark Obenshain is trailing Democrat Mark Herring for attorney general by 164 votes. Obenshain could win with as few as 71 — with not a single one cast by an ordinary Virginian. It is a nuclear option that takes the election out of the hands of the electorate.Jump below for more information on this procedure:Obenshain could initiate what state law calls a “contest” in which the 140-member legislature decides the attorney generalship by a majority vote. That would be a minimum of 71. They shouldn’t be too difficult for Obenshain to round up. There are 87 Republican legislators. Many of them don’t like one bit that their party could be completely shut out of statewide office.