An official of the Virginia State Board of Elections pulled the name of David Yancey from a blue and white stoneware bowl Thursday, breaking a tied race that is pivotal to control of the state House of Delegates.

The outcome in favor of Yancey, the Republican incumbent, means the House remains narrowly in his party’s hands, 51 seats to 49, after a Democratic wave in November propelled by anger at President Trump. Going into the election, the Republicans had a 32-seat advantage.

The random drawing, a species of political unicorn that attracted attention well beyond Virginia, was conducted in the Patrick Henry Building near the state Capitol in Richmond shortly after 11 a.m. Each candidate’s name was written on strips of paper, inserted into film canisters and mixed together in the handmade bowl, made by the potter-in-residence at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Steven Glass.

Despite the high ceremony, the drawing may not bring finality to a race that has already been fiercely fought through a recount and in court skirmishes. By state law, the loser in the drawing may request a second recount.

The Democratic challenger, Shelly Simonds, a school board member in Newport News, said after the drawing that “all options are still on the table.'’ But she also sounded resigned. “You know it was a long, hard election season, and it does seem like a sad end to the story to have to end on a game of chance,'’ she told reporters.

Yancey did not attend the drawing, which was thronged with news cameras and live-streamed on Facebook, but he called on his opponent afterward to move on. “The election is behind us, the outcome is clear, and my responsibility now is to begin the work I was reelected to do,'’ Yancey said in a statement. On Twitter, he thanked “all of the kids I have coached in high school rugby who have inspired me to keep fighting.'’

Simonds had proposed to Yancey on Wednesday that each should pledge to forgo a second recount if they lost the drawing. Yancey rejected the offer.

Republican leaders in the House called on the Democrat to give up the fight, despite her right to ask for a second recount.

“This was a historic election, but now it’s time to begin the work of governing,'’ said House majority leader Todd Gilbert.

For one day last month, when the initial recount gave Simonds a one-vote lead in the race, Democrats celebrated the end of 17 years of Republican majorities in the House. Republicans even said in a statement that with control evenly divided, they looked forward to a power-sharing arrangement.

But a three-judge recount court, reviewing the count the next day, added an additional ballot for Yancey. That tied the race at 11,607 apiece, and created the need for the random drawing called for under Virginia law. Simonds asked the court to reconsider its decision on the single ballot, but the court rejected the request earlier this week.

If Simonds requests a second recount, it probably would not be complete by Jan. 10, when the House of Delegates is scheduled to reconvene. Republicans said Thursday that in the past, members have not been seated when a recount of their race was in progress. But even without Yancey, they would still have one more vote than the Democrats.

“We’ve been clear that we intend to organize the House on the first day of session,'’ said Kirk Cox, a Republican who is expected to be chosen as speaker.

Control of the speakership on opening day brings with it a bag of political goodies, including control over committee assignments and House rules, which will determine which bills make it to the floor, amplifying Republican influence over a chamber that is nearly equally divided.

Virginia Democrats had hoped that under Ralph Northam, the governor-elect and a Democrat, thwarted liberal priorities would break through a logjam of Republican control of both houses of the General Assembly. Expanding Medicaid in the state was high on that list.

Democrats have angrily pointed to the gerrymandered House of Delegates map, saying that it unfairly prevented them from gaining control.