Virginia Supreme Court Strikes Down Voter-Approved Democratic Redistricting Plan, Boosting Republicans

Virginia’s Supreme Court struck down a voter-approved Democratic congressional redistricting plan on Friday, delivering a major setback to Democrats in a nationwide battle against Republicans for an edge in this year’s midterm elections.

“Virginia’s highest court has thrown out a new electoral map that was crafted to flip four Republican-held US congressional seats to Democrats, handing President Donald Trump’s party a victory in the run-up to the November midterm elections”

Al Jazeera

The court ruled 4-3 that the state’s Democratic-led legislature violated procedural requirements when it placed the constitutional amendment on the ballot to authorize mid-decade redistricting, after voters narrowly approved the amendment on April 21.

Al Jazeera

Writing for the majority, Justice D. Arthur Kelsey said the legislature submitted the proposed constitutional amendment to voters “in an unprecedented manner,” and the ruling renders the referendum vote’s result “null and void.”

AP reported that Democrats had hoped to win as many as four additional U.S. House seats under Virginia’s redrawn map, as part of an attempt to offset Republican redistricting done elsewhere at the urging of President Donald Trump.

The decision also came as a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling “severely weakened the Voting Rights Act,” which AP said has supercharged Republicans’ congressional gerrymandering advantage heading into the midterms.

Trump celebrated the Virginia ruling on social media, saying, “Huge win for the Republican Party, and America, in Virginia,” while Richard Hudson, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said, “We’re on offense, and we’re going to win.”

Democrats framed the decision as overturning the voters’ choice, with Don Scott, the Democratic speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, saying, “They voted YES because they wanted to fight back against the Trump power grab.”

AP News

Suzan DelBene, chairwoman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, criticized the court majority for what she said was a decision that “cast aside the will of the voters,” while also saying “In November, they will, and they’ll power Democrats to the House majority.”

The Washington Post described the case as part of a national redistricting war, saying the Supreme Court of Virginia invalidated the referendum that could have given Democrats four extra seats in the U.S. House.

AP said Virginia Democrats intended to file an emergency appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court, with the U.S. Supreme Court trying to avoid second-guessing state courts’ interpretations of their own constitutions.

With the Virginia referendum invalidated, the congressional map will not shift from the current layout, which NPR said favors Democrats six to five, and the state must use the same congressional district map in the upcoming election as it used in 2022 and 2024.

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NPR reported that the redistricting could have helped Democrats win four Republican-held House seats, and that combined with five seats tilted toward Democrats in California and one in Utah, it added up to 10 seats, but the Virginia ruling will now put the GOP far ahead.

The Guardian said the court’s decision was a setback for Democrats’ efforts nationwide to counter gerrymanders approved by Republican-led states, and it described the ruling as handing Republicans a major win ahead of November’s midterm elections.

NBC News reported that Democrats were seeking a map designed to give the party up to four new House seats, but the court ruled the legislature began its constitutional amendment process too late to be lawful, citing the requirement that lawmakers pass a constitutional amendment through two consecutive legislative sessions with an election in between.

AP said the ruling, combined with the Voting Rights Act weakening, has prompted Republicans to press advantages in other states, and it noted Virginia currently has six Democrats and five Republicans in the U.S. House from districts imposed by a court after a bipartisan redistricting commission failed after the 2020 census.