"Richmond-AP - Democrat Jim Schuler easily won back the House of Delegates seat that he gave up last year after redistricting, defeating Republican Larry Linkous by a ratio of more than 2-to-1 in a special election Tuesday.

Complete but unofficial totals from the State Board of Elections showed Shuler had 71 percent of the vote, with 29 percent for Linkous.

The victory enables Shuler to take his seat as usual for a fifth term when the General Assembly convenes at noon today.

Shuler, of Blacksburg, represented the 12th District for eight years. When he found himself in the same district as fellow Democrat R. Creigh Deeds after the legislature's GOP majority redrew the district lines last year, he moved into an adjacent district and lost in November to Republican David Nutter" (The Daily Progress, January 9, 2002).

With a voting turnout of 26.37% [with 10,297 of the 39,041 registered voters casting their ballots], Shuler received 7,284 votes to Linkous 3,006 votes (Official Results as of January 11, 2001).