Virginia Democrats Ask Supreme Court of Virginia to Halt Redistricting Ruling Pending U.S. Appeal

Virginia Democrats asked the Virginia Supreme Court to halt its ruling nullifying the state’s redistricting referendum and signaled plans to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Hill reported that Virginia House of Delegates Speaker Don Scott (D) and others filed a joint motion asking the court to “delay issuing its mandate” on the referendum.

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VPM News said the request for stay did not make clear what constitutional grounds the appeal would be based on, but stated Democrats would prepare an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Rae Pickett, a spokesperson for Attorney General Jay Jones, said, “Today’s action is an imperative step in the process we promised to pursue to explore every available option to restore the will of the voters.”

The Virginia Supreme Court struck down the voter-approved redistricting amendment, upholding a lower court ruling that declared the measure unconstitutional less than 24 hours after a special election.

Virginia Mercury said the high court found the amendment itself was flawed because lawmakers approved the proposal after voting had already started in the 2025 House of Delegates elections, depriving more than 1.3 million Virginians of an opportunity to weigh the issue.

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VPM News quoted the 30-page majority opinion authored by Justice Arthur D. Kelsey stating, “This violation irreparably undermines the integrity of the resulting referendum vote and renders it null and void.”

VPM News also said the ruling left the congressional district maps issued by the court in 2021 as the governing maps for the upcoming 2026 congressional elections.

The ruling left Virginia’s current congressional districts in place throughout the 2026 midterm election and the rest of the decade, rather than proposed districts Democrats said could produce a 10-1 advantage.

Virginia Mercury said the 4-3 ruling leaves the state’s current congressional districts — which give Democrats a 6-5 advantage — in place, and it cited the justices’ view that Article XII, Section 1 requires “an intervening general election.”

The Hill said the decision was a setback for Democrats as they fight to flip the House this fall and offset expected gains from GOP-friendly redistricting in other red states across the country.

VPM News said the ruling is a major victory for Virginia Republicans, the national GOP and President Donald Trump, and it described how it prevents an easy four-seat pickup by blue congressional hopefuls.