Virginia Republicans target Del. Dan Helmer over redistricting ‘power grab’

Virginia Republicans are targeting the Democratic state lawmaker who played a key role in congressional redistricting in the state and is now running for a newly elected U.S. House seat.

After Virginia Delegate Dan Helmer launched his congressional campaign, some Republican leaders targeted him for what they called a “power grab.”

“I think it’s looking bad,” House Minority Leader Terry Kilgore told Fox News Digital, pointing to Helmer’s plan to run for Congress. “The whole process looks awful because it’s all a power grab. We think the optics are bad.”

And the Virginia GOP argued in a social media post: “Democrats are so corrupt they pick candidates from the same people who draw the maps.”

HOME REDESTIGATION BATTLE PASSES THIS STATE

Helmer, a 44-year-old U.S. Army veteran who served in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, launched a campaign Wednesday for the Democratic nomination in Virginia’s newly elected 7th Congressional District; It’s one of four new left-leaning seats that will favor Democrats if voters approve an April referendum to approve a constitutional amendment greenlighting redistricting by the middle of the decade.

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Helmer, who has served in the Virginia House of Representatives since 2020 and is the campaign chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, was one of the architects behind the push to draw the new map in the state legislature last fall.

Virginia is the latest battleground in the critical ongoing fight between President Donald Trump and Republicans and Democrats to change congressional maps ahead of the November election.

President Donald Trump has called on Republican-controlled states to pass congressional redistricting resolutions ahead of the midterm elections in November. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Republicans maintain their House majority in the midterm elections, and Democrats need a net gain of just three seats to regain control of the chamber. That means redistricting efforts in Virginia and other states could very well decide which party controls the House of Representatives next year.

Virginia Republicans had challenged the validity of the upcoming referendum, arguing that Democrats made procedural errors when the legislature approved amendments to the state Constitution. And last month a lower court ruled in favor of the GOP.

But a state Supreme Court decision late last week authorized implementation of the ballot measure that would ask voters to give power to the legislature instead of Virginia’s current nonpartisan commission and reapportion power through the 2030 elections. Early voting for the referendum is planned to begin on March 6.

However, last week’s decision regarding the referendum does not mean that the legal difficulties are over. Democrats are still defending their ability to redraw maps, and the state Supreme Court may schedule arguments in the case. Also this week, the Republican National Committee filed a new lawsuit to block the April referendum.

Helmer praised his “successful efforts to fight and win against Donald Trump” in a campaign launch video.

And he rejected Republican criticism that the congressional proposal was a bad look, stating that he was withdrawing from the process of redrawing maps after redistricting passed the legislature.

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But the Virginia GOP pointed to Helmer’s two previous failed bids for Congress, arguing that the state lawmaker “is a career loser who had to rig the game to have any hope of winning a congressional seat after losing TWO primaries in 2018 and 2024.”

And Virginia Senate Minority Leader Ryan McDougle told Fox News Digital that the view of “trying to fool Virginia” is “not good.”