Judge Rules Democrats Can Continue Virginia Redistricting Effort
Virginia Democrats notched a legal win on Wednesday when a federal judge ruled their redistricting effort can proceed.
According to Democracy Docket, Virginia Republicans filed a lawsuit on Tuesday, requesting an immediate block to a constitutional amendment that Democrats introduced in the General Assembly on Monday. The measure, House Joint Resolution 6006, would allow the state legislature to engage in a rare, mid-decade redistricting in response to several Red states gerrymandering their congressional maps.
The amendment must pass twice in the General Assembly and then gain voter approval in a statewide referendum. Should it pass, it would temporarily transfer control of the state’s congressional maps from an independent redistricting committee to the General Assembly until the end of the decade.
State Republicans alleged that the measure was “unconstitutional” and that the General Assembly didn’t have the power to convene the special session. While the court didn’t believe that was grounds to nullify the special session, they did set a follow-up hearing for Nov. 5.
The Washington Post reports that during the special session, Virginia Republicans argued the proposed amendment disenfranchised voters who approved placing control of the state’s maps with an independent redistricting committee in 2020.
“We looked Virginia voters in the eye and promised them something fundamental, that Virginia would pick their representatives and not the other way around,” Sen. William M. Stanley (R-Franklin) said during the special session. “Why are we attacking a constitutional amendment that is merely five years old and has been used once? What we should not do is abandon this commitment just because the circumstances in Washington have changed.”
Sen. Adam P. Ebbin (D-Alexandria) effectively waved away those concerns. “Potentially giving the voters a choice to revisit their past decision in a small way under extraordinary circumstances undermines no one,” Ebbin said.
Virginia’s redistricting effort came as a surprise last week, as state Democrats hadn’t signaled this was something they intended to pursue. “Our hand’s been forced here,” Delegate Rodney Willett (D), a sponsor of the amendment, said Monday. “This is not our choice to be here, but with this kind of attack, we’ve got to respond.”
Nationwide, a redistricting battle has been underway since July, when Texas Gov. Greg Abbott used the devastating Kerr County floods as an excuse to call a special legislative session focused on redistricting. The effort came at the request of President Donald Trump, who is desperately trying to maintain the GOP’s narrow control in the House. Democrats only need a net gain of three seats during the 2026 midterms to flip control.
The Texas redistricting effort resulted in the GOP adding five seats in districts Trump won during the 2024 election. Several GOP-led states followed up those gains with redistricting efforts of their own. Missouri and North Carolina saw through redistricting efforts that potentially give Republicans one extra seat in both states.
A commission was formed in Florida to discuss a potential redistricting effort, and Indiana recently announced a special session focused on redistricting, though it’s unclear if they actually have the votes to see it through.
Virginia’s redistricting effort bears much resemblance to the one Gov. Gavin Newsom spearheaded in California. Newsom announced the “Election Rigging Response Act” in August to directly counter the Texas effort. A special election will be held in California next week, where voters will decide whether control of the state’s congressional maps remains with an independent redistricting committee or transfers to the state legislature. Should voters approve the transfer, which seems quite likely given current polling, Newsom intends to implement a map that directly neutralizes the gains made in the Texas map.
If the California effort succeeds, and everything goes right for Virginia’s redistricting effort, the math for control of the House will once again tighten.
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