Democrats' Virginia Redistricting Map Passes, But Still Faces a Significant Hurdle Before Becoming Official
A Democrat-authored redistricting plan passed by a narrow margin in Virginia Tuesday.
In a referendum that drew more than three million Virginians to the polls, the state’s voters approved a plan to allow Democrats to redraw the state’s congressional map so as to give Democrats a strong chance at a 10:1 majority in the state’s U.S. House delegation, according to NBC News.
Now, in all likelihood, the Supreme Court of Virginia will review the plan.
At present, Democrats enjoy a 6:5 advantage in Virginia’s U.S. House delegation
Tuesday’s vote reflected Virginia’s status as a purple state that leans blue. As of Wednesday morning, with approximately 17,000 votes outstanding, 51.4 percent of voters approved the plan, compared to 48.6 percent who voted against it.
In the end, however, the Virginia Supreme Court could render the Democrats’ victory moot.
For one thing, a Tazewell County judge has already blocked the proposal twice, according to WRIC-TV in Richmond.
In January, for instance, the judge ruled that by adding the proposal to the 2024 Special Session of the General Assembly, Virginia Democrats had violated procedural rules, in which case the plan could not go forward to a referendum.
Then, in February, the same judge objected to the referendum’s language, which read:
“Question: Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended to allow the General Assembly to temporarily adopt new congressional districts to restore fairness in the upcoming elections, while ensuring Virginia’s standard redistricting process resumes for all future redistricting after the 2030 census?”
The judge characterized the question, particularly the phrase “restore fairness,” as misleading.
On March 4, the Virginia Supreme Court allowed the referendum to go forward. But it left open the possibility of future scrutiny.
“[This case] involve[s] weighty assertions of invalidity against the process employed by the Virginia General Assembly in an effort to submit a proposed constitutional amendment to the citizens of the Commonwealth,” the justices’ opinion read. “These issues are of grave concern to the Court. But consistent with [past precedent], we offer no opinion on the ultimate resolution. It is the process, not the outcome, of this effort that we may ultimately have to address. Issuing an injunction to keep Virginians from the polls is not the proper way to make this decision.”
In a lawsuit filed in February, National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Richard Hudson accused Virginia Democrats of “ignoring their own Constitution and trying to rig the system in their favor,” WRIC reported.
Meanwhile, Virginia House Speaker Don Scott, a Democrat, described Republicans as “terrified of the ballot box.”
The high concentration of government employees in Northern Virginia has turned that state blue in recent years. Voters in those affluent D.C. suburbs, for instance, broke heavily for then-Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.
Those same voters in Loudoun, Fairfax, Alexandria, and Prince William Counties voted overwhelmingly “yes” on Tuesday’s referendum, according to NBC News.
And those votes proved decisive. For instance, the referendum passed by a 150,000-vote margin in Fairfax alone, whereas statewide, the margin of victory was less than 100,000 votes.
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