“That's the strategy. To make this election so dirty and ugly that we don't want any part of it,” Obama said. “So when you hear folks talking about a global conspiracy and saying that this election is rigged, understand that they are trying to get you to stay home. They are trying to convince you that your vote doesn't matter, that the outcome has already been determined and you shouldn't even bother making your voice heard. They are trying to take away your hope.”

But if you doubt that every vote counts, Obama asked the crowd to think back to 2008, when her husband won North Carolina by 14,000 votes. Perhaps to some, that “sounds like a lot,” she said, but actually breaks down to about two votes per precinct.

“See, I want you all to take that in,” Obama said. “Because I know that there are people here who didn't vote. Two votes. And people knew people who didn't vote. Two votes. If just two or three folks per precinct had gone the other way, Barack would have lost that state, could have lost the election. And let's not forget, back in 2012, Barack actually did lose this state by about 17 votes per precinct.”

Presidential elections are decided “on a razor’s edge,” Obama said. She told everyone watching that they can swing an entire precinct for Clinton by bringing their friends and family out to vote for her, too — or swing it for Trump “with a protest vote or by not voting at all.”

Back in 2012, Barack won Virginia by about 150,000 votes. Now that may sound like a lot, but when you break that down, the difference between winning and a losing the state was only 31 votes per precinct, 31 votes.

He won Ohio. The difference there — in Ohio, the difference there was just nine votes per precinct. Do you hear me? In Florida, the difference was six votes per precinct. Take that in for a moment. Take that in. Those are real numbers. That’s how elections, especially the presidential election are won and lost on — handful of votes.

So there are plenty of states where each of you could swing an entire precinct and win this election for Hillary Clinton just by getting yourselves, your friends and your few family members registered and out to vote. But it’s going to take work. Yes, we can.

The outcome, which reverberated across Virginia, ends 17 years of GOP control of the House and forces Republicans into a rare episode of power sharing with Democrats that will refashion the political landscape in Richmond.

It was the culmination of last month’s Democratic wave that had diminished Republican power in purple Virginia.

(snip)

Power sharing in the House of Delegates is an awkward exercise; the last such arrangement was in 1998. Committee chairs have to be negotiated, as does the person who will serve as speaker. With the parties split 50-50, there is no mechanism to break ties, and any legislation short of 51 votes does not advance.

Republicans hold a slight 21-to-19 edge in the state Senate, but with a Democratic lieutenant governor to break ties and a Democratic governor with veto power, Republicans may be forced to advance a more bipartisan agenda.