The 2000 recount in Florida played out in reverse this week in Alexandria, with a 16-vote margin of victory sending the city’s newest delegate to the Virginia House of Delegates. Before a three-judge panel at the Alexandria courthouse on Monday, one of Al Gore’s former recount lawyers argued that ballots set aside for irregularities should not be unsealed and counted. It was the opposite of arguments he made in Miami-Dade County eight years ago, when he was part of a team petitioning the court to count ballots that were rejected for technical reasons.

"Recounts are statutory creatures," said Jack Young, the well-known Virginia election lawyer. "And every state does it differently."

The contrasts between 2000 and 2009 were striking. For example, Young argued in 2000 that a ballot in which a voter selected Gore and wrote his name on the ballot should be counted. Yet in 2009 he argued that a ballot in which a voter selected Democratic candidate Charniele Herring and wrote her name on the ballot should not be counted.

"That’s politics," said Joe Murray, the Republican candidate who requested Monday’s recount.

Within minutes of the three-judge panel’s confirmation of Herring’s 16-vote margin of victory, the Republican-led House of Delegates swore-in its newest member. Later that afternoon, Murray decided not to pursue the matter further with an official contest, which could have been heard in the House Committee for Privileges and Elections. Democrats, who have been trying to seat Herring since the session began two weeks ago, greeted the news with shouts and celebration.

"There was a lot of loud cheering and banging of desks on our side of the aisle," said Del. David Englin (D-45). "The fact that the Republicans choose to allow Herring to be sworn-in indicates to me that they don’t perceive any challenge of her election to be legitimate."

BORN TO AN ARMY family in the Dominican Republic, Herring is the great-great-granddaughter of a woman who was sold on a slave block in Lynchburg. Herring arrived in Northern Virginia in 1980 to attend Hunt Valley Elementary School but had a difficult childhood. After her parents divorced, Herring and her mother became homeless for about six months. She spent her 16th birthday at an EconoLodge near the Backlick Road exit off the Capital Beltway, eventually moving into a shelter for women and children before graduating from West Springfield High School in 1987.

"She definitely dealt with adversity as a teenager," said brother Chuck Herring, an orthopedic surgeon who lives near Los Angeles. "And she always loved being around people, but it was after college that she became interested in politics."

Herring studied economics at George Mason University, receiving a bachelor of arts degree in 1993 before attending law school at Catholic University. In 1997 she joined a law firm then known as Leftwich and Douglas, which handled cases dealing with regulation, business, environment and family law. She stayed with that firm, now known as Leftwich and Ludaway, until striking out on her own in 2007. She joined the Alexandria Women’s Commission in 2001, and became president of the West End Business Association in 2008.

"She’s traveled a very long road," said Carolyn Herring, her mother. "We had some tough times, but we made it through them stronger."

BECAUSE HERRING missed Friday’s deadline for filing bills, she will have to ask for unanimous consent if she wants to introduce any of her own legislation. Yet regardless of how much of an impact she could make during this year’s session, Herring will have to stand for reelection in November. Meanwhile, she’ll need a legislative strategy for the remainder of the term.

"We haven’t had a chance to figure out how we are going to handle possible legislation," said Jennifer Bissett, Herring’s aide. "She left the House floor and went immediately into committee meetings."