Virginia Democrats took a serious step on Friday towards redrawing the state’s congressional map forward of subsequent yr’s midterm elections—a high-stakes transfer with nationwide implications.
The state Senate handed a constitutional modification that might enable lawmakers to redraw districts earlier than the top of the last decade—however underneath restricted circumstances and solely till Oct. 31, 2030. The Home of Delegates permitted the measure earlier this week.
The plan would let Democrats sidestep the bipartisan redistricting fee that voters permitted in 2020, a panel designed to maintain mapmaking nonpartisan. To take impact, the modification should cross the legislature twice, with an election in between, after which win ultimate approval from voters. Lawmakers hope to finish that course of early subsequent yr, in time for the 2026 midterms.
Democrats maintain six of Virginia’s 11 congressional seats and see an opportunity to redraw the map in a approach to give them two or three extra Democratic-leaning districts. The technique is aimed toward countering Republican gerrymanders in states like Texas and Missouri, the place GOP-led legislatures have pushed by way of mid-decade maps underneath strain from the White Home.
The trouble can also be tied to Virginia’s elections on Tuesday. Democrats are aiming to take care of or increase their 51-48 majority within the state Home and flip the governor’s seat, the place Democrat Abigail Spanberger is favored. These wins can be essential for passing the modification in a second legislative session earlier than sending it to voters.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger, proven in June.
In fact, Republicans are preventing again. On Tuesday, state Legal professional Normal Jason Miyares issued an opinion stating the modification can’t be put earlier than voters till after the 2026 elections. GOP leaders have additionally filed a lawsuit difficult the Home of Delegates’ authority to redistrict and questioning how Democrats dealt with the vote. A choose declined to dam the modification for now, however a declaratory judgment trial is scheduled.
For Democrats, the push is defensive.
Republicans, seemingly oblivious to how they began all this, view Democrats’ transfer as a “power grab.”
“This amendment doesn’t just trample the process that we have created and put in our Constitution. It betrays the people’s will,” state Sen. Glen Sturtevant instructed NBC. “What’s worse, it’s being done in the middle of an election. That’s not reform, that’s reversal. It’s not transparency, it’s a power grab.”
Virginia’s present congressional strains have been drawn by particular masters appointed by the state Supreme Courtroom after the fee deadlocked in 2021. The ensuing map was supposed to provide no partisan benefit, in line with the Princeton Gerrymandering Venture.
Greater than 65% of Virginia voters permitted the creation of the fee in 2020, however Republicans in different states, desperate to gerrymander their maps, compelled Democrats’ hand right here.
Virginia is now a part of a broader nationwide story. Democrats in California are searching for voter approval to bypass that state’s unbiased fee, whereas Republicans in Texas, Missouri, and North Carolina have already enacted new maps. Indiana’s GOP-controlled legislature can also be scheduled to carry a particular session on redistricting subsequent week, which may lead to one other gerrymander supposed to bolster the get together’s slim majority within the Home.
For Democrats, Virginia represents a uncommon likelihood to struggle fireplace with fireplace—and doubtlessly tilt the stability within the U.S. Home in 2026.
