Virginia lawmakers aim to redraw maps to help Democrats gain seats in Congress | Virginia
Virginia entered the redistricting battle mid-national cycle with Democratic state lawmakers intent on redrawing the state’s congressional maps to send two or three more Democrats to Washington.
Virginia’s delegation currently has a 6-5 split, with Democrats leading by one member. Democratic Virginia House Speaker Don Scott sent a letter to members on Thursday warning them about reconvening a special session to consider the legislation. Although the letter did not explicitly state that redistricting was on the agenda, national organizations said they had been informed that was the case.
The state became the second state, after California, to attempt redistricting to benefit Democrats in response to Republican efforts to gain seats in Congress in states such as Texas, North Carolina and Missouri. Texas redistricting pushed five more seats to a Republican victory. Missouri added another Republican seat, as did North Carolina earlier this week.
“We have a clear view that Democrats cannot unilaterally disarm the nation and must pursue every available tool to counter Republicans’ desperate attempts to steal the midterm elections,” the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said in a statement Thursday after Scott’s letter was published. “Virginia’s decision to preserve the right to meet and consider a new map in 2026 is critical in the fight to ensure voters are fairly represented, and we commend them for standing up to Republican attempts to undermine the power of the people and the right to vote.”
Still, the move caught national leaders off guard. The Virginia General Assembly amended the state constitution in 2020 to create a 16-member, bipartisan redistricting commission, taking apportionment out of the hands of the closely divided legislature. Repealing this commission to conduct partisan redistricting would require another constitutional amendment that would amend the California constitution to temporarily allow redistricting, as happened in California, where voters will vote on Proposition 50 in early November.
In Virginia, an amendment must pass two consecutive legislatures and then become law by popular vote.
Changing the constitution in this way would require Democrats to convene both houses of the general assembly in the November election. Virginia is one of four states that holds state elections in off-years. The Governor of Virginia does not have the authority to veto redistricting legislation.
Virginia’s redistricting vote comes after neighboring North Carolina’s legislature passed a measure to redraw its maps earlier this week. North Carolina’s Republican legislative majority voted to change the state’s primary congressional district boundaries, replacing thousands of Democratic voters with Republicans and turning the closely contested seat currently held by a Democratic representative, Don Davis, into a likely Republican victory. North Carolina currently sends ten Republicans and four Democrats to Congress.
“After what has happened in North Carolina and in states across the country, I believe that in taking this procedural step [Virginia lawmakers] “We are keeping options on the table to respond to far-right gerrymandering next year,” said Mandara Meyers, executive director of The States Project, a political group that works to ensure Democratic majorities in state legislatures. The States Project announced a $5 million donation to support Virginia’s Democratic candidates earlier this month.
