Virginia voters are poised to decide on whether to adopt a new congressional map that could help Democrats pick up as many as four House seats in the midterm elections.
The Virginia Senate on Friday approved a constitutional amendment allowing for mid-decade redistricting, making way for a special election to let voters weigh in as soon as this spring, before the commonwealth’s June 16 primaries.
The 21-18 vote follows a separate vote earlier this week to endorse the amendment in the state House, which is also controlled by Democrats.
Under Virginia law, the legislature had to approve the constitutional amendment in two separate sessions before sending it to voters. State legislators completed the first step of the process last fall.
The amendment would override the commonwealth’s bipartisan redistricting commission through the 2030 census, when nationwide redistricting would occur again ahead of the 2032 elections.
Redistricting across the country has reshaped the battle for the House this cycle. Republican-controlled Texas jump-started the process in the summer by passing a more favorable congressional map. That prompted Democrats in California to draw friendlier House lines that voters approved via a ballot measure in November — a similar playbook to the one their counterparts in Virginia are now following.
Republicans lawmakers in North Carolina and Missouri also adopted new maps last year. A legal challenge in Utah led to redrawn lines that could help Democrats pick up a seat, while Ohio Republicans could flip a handful of districts under a new map that was constitutionally required.
Virginia Democrats currently hold six of the commonwealth’s 11 House seats and have already been targeting a handful of GOP districts in the upcoming midterms.
Republicans in the legislature, who have challenged the constitutionality of the redistricting process in court, argued that Democrats should look to GOP-led Indiana, where a majority of Republican state senators declined to enact a new map last month.
But Democrats say the redraw is necessary to counter the successful GOP redistricting efforts in other states. Some Virginia Democrats, including state Senate leader Louise Lucas, have been pushing for a map that could give their party 10 House seats, while others have pushed for a less aggressive 9-2 balance.
“This is power for power’s sake — plain and simple,” Virginia Rep. Jen Kiggans, one of the likely GOP targets, said Friday on social media. “Elections should be decided in a fair fight at the ballot box, not through shady political gerrymandering. Virginians deserve better.”
Other Republican-held seats that could be potential targets under a new map include the districts of Reps. Rob Wittman and John McGuire, and potentially Rep. Ben Cline.
Following the Virginia House vote earlier this week, Democrats launched a new group, Virginians for Fair Elections, to urge voters to support the new amendment.
“We wish we didn’t have to take this step,” Kéren Charles Dongo, the group’s campaign manager, said in a statement. “But with Donald Trump pressuring MAGA-controlled legislatures to rig their maps, this temporary, emergency exception will keep Virginia’s elections fair until every state plays by the same rules — and make sure the people, not politicians, decide how Virginia’s voice is heard in Congress.”
Virginia isn’t the only state eyeing new House lines this year. The Republican-led Florida legislature could also redraw the state’s map to help the party pick up as many as five seats. Gov. Ron DeSantis has already called for an April special session focused on redistricting.
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