Former AG Tells CNN's Tapper: VA Supreme Court Likely to Invalidate Redistricting Referendum, Possibly 7-0
Former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli told CNN’s Jake Tapper, following a court ruling invalidating Tuesday’s congressional redistricting vote, that the state Supreme Court will likely uphold the judge’s decision.
Virginians voted Tuesday, approximately 51.5 percent to 48.5 percent, to allow the redrawing of the state’s congressional districts, taking the current party breakdown from a 6-5 split to a potential 10-1 Democratic Party advantage.
Tazewell County Circuit Court Judge Jack Hurley issued an injunction late Wednesday, concluding, “Any and all votes for or against the proposed constitutional amendment in the April 21, 2026, special election are ineffective.”
The judge said the referendum question was void “ab initio” — Latin for “from the beginning.”
When Tapper asked about the ruling, Cuccinelli, a Republican, responded that a trial court win is good, but the issue will ultimately be decided at the Virginia Supreme Court.
In January, Judge Hurley had placed a preliminary injunction against the Democrats’ ballot referendum going forward.
The Virginia Supreme Court ruled in March that the election could go forward, but did not decide on the underlying legal issues raised, the Associated Press reported.
“The court still has not ruled on whether the mid-decade redistricting amendment and referendum are legal, indicating that the scheduled April vote could be all for nothing if the top court upholds a lower court ruling blocking the effort,” the Associated Press said at the time.
Cuccinelli explained to Tapper that nothing should be read into the Supreme Court allowing the election to go forward, despite Hurley’s previous ruling.
“There’s a reason the Supreme Court held off until after the vote. Over 100 years of Virginia legal precedent says that the vote in a referendum is part of the legislative process. It’s analogous to a governor signing a bill. You don’t sue on a bill that hasn’t passed yet,” he said.
“I think it’s highly likely this will be overturned, probably in May,” the former attorney general contended.
Senior Fellow Ken Cuccinelli joins @CNN as the legal fight heats up over Virginia’s redistricting referendum: “There’s some very basic processes in the Constitution for amending the constitution that Democrats ignored. They were ignoring the will of the people in how they brought… pic.twitter.com/SQflCxcLkD
— Center for Renewing America (@amrenewctr) April 23, 2026
Cuccinelli went on to argue that the referendum “flagrantly violated” the state’s constitutional process in four ways.
“They have to win all four of them to hold on to this referendum. I just don’t think they can do it,” he said.
“There are some very basic processes in the Constitution for amending the Constitution that they ignored,” Cuccinelli elaborated. “They [the Democrats] were ignoring the will of the people in how they brought this forward. And now we’re going to have this decided in the Virginia Supreme Court. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a 7-0 ruling throwing this out.”
The former attorney general listed the four constitutional issues raised in a social media post Tuesday.
The “yes” vote has won Va’s redistricting referendum — but the legal fight is just beginning. Four Va Constitutional challenges are now teed up:
THREE challenges to the amendment process itself:
1️⃣ First passage was invalid. The amendment was taken up during a special session…— Ken Cuccinelli II (@KenCuccinelli) April 22, 2026
First, he noted the referendum seeks to change the congressional districts through a constitutional amendment, but the amendment was taken up during a special legislative session to address the budget last fall, which was not allowed under Virginia law. “Expanding it to include a constitutional amendment on redistricting required a two-thirds vote that never occurred,” Cuccinelli wrote.
Second, the amendment must be approved by two separate votes of the legislature, with an election between the votes. Early voting in last fall’s election was already underway when the proposed amendment passed the legislature.
Additionally, Cuccinelli wrote that the Virginia Constitution requires “every electoral district shall be composed of contiguous and compact territory,” explaining the “proposed congressional maps violate this contiguity requirement (rather badly).”
The new map would create multiple districts that originate in Democrat-heavy northern Virginia around Washington, D.C., and extend south.
5 districts in Virginia now start in this circle…
Tentacles from DC reaching across the state. pic.twitter.com/Ek4InrNcxl
— Geiger Capital (@Geiger_Capital) April 22, 2026
Finally, the Virginia Constitution requires “the amendment be submitted to voters ‘not sooner than ninety days after final passage by the General Assembly.’ The timeline from the second passage to the April 21 vote did not satisfy this requirement,” Cuccinelli wrote.
Judge Hurley listed some of these issues in his January ruling against the referendum.
Cuccinelli told Newsmax Wednesday that the Supreme Court has been moving at “lightning speed” in the case that was already active on the court docket before Tuesday’s election.
He said oral arguments are set to be heard in the case Monday.
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