Obama endorses Virginia redistricting effort to gain 4 House seats ahead of midterms

Former President Barack Obama on Thursday endorsed Democrats’ redistricting efforts in Virginia that could give the party four additional House seats.

Virginia is one of several states nationwide fighting for redistricting ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. So far, Obama has thrown his weight behind Democratic initiatives in both California and now Virginia.

“Free and fair elections are the cornerstone of our democracy. But now they are under attack,” Obama X wrote on Thursday.

“Many Republican-controlled states redrew their congressional maps to give themselves an unfair advantage in the midterm elections. Now Virginia has a chance to help level the playing field. If you live in the Commonwealth, early voting begins March 6 and Election Day is April 21. Vote YES,” he added.

Obama urged Californians to support Gov. Gavin Newsom’s redistricting effort late last year, arguing it was a “responsible” tactic in response to the GOP’s redistricting efforts in Texas.

His newfound support for redrawing congressional maps comes six years after he and former Attorney General Eric Holder launched All On The Line, “a grassroots movement to combat gerrymandering and advocate for a fair redistricting process.”

Obama also condemned gerrymandering in his final State of the Union address, during which he said the nation must “end the practice of drawing congressional districts so politicians can choose their voters.”

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The Supreme Court weighed in on New York’s redistricting effort on Tuesday. (Image alliance via Valerie Plesch/Getty Images)

Conflict over congressional districts has spread across the country; President Donald Trump and top Democrats are urging allied state legislatures to take action.

The Supreme Court weighed in on the issue earlier this week, ruling in favor of a Republican representative from New York who opposed the Democrats’ redistricting effort.

The conservative majority halted the hearing after the court’s three liberal justices dissented. state court decision He had ordered New York’s redistricting commission to redraw the district held by Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-Y., which covers Staten Island and a small part of Brooklyn.

A judge had ruled that the district was drawn in a way that diminished the strength of Black and Hispanic voters and ordered the state’s Independent Redistricting Commission to complete a new map.

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“Today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to keep New York’s 11th Congressional District intact helps restore public confidence in our judicial system and proves that challenges to our district boundaries are always worthless,” Malliotakis said in a statement Tuesday. he said.

“The plaintiffs in this case sought to manipulate our state’s courts to use race as a weapon to rig our elections,” he added. “This was wrong and, as today’s decision shows, clearly unconstitutional.”

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