The Virginia Legislature Just Cleared the Way for New Congressional District Lines

The Virginia state Senate on Friday approved a constitutional amendment that paves the way for a special election in which voters will decide whether to approve congressional maps favoring Democrats ahead of the midterms.

If voters approve the referendum, Democrats could end up with lines that could net their party up to four seats, though the exact makeup of the final map is still unclear. Virginia is the latest state taking steps to push back against Republican redistricting measures across the country.

Virginia’s congressional delegation currently consists of six Democrats and five Republicans. Democrats in the state control the state Senate as well as the House of Delegates, which approved the constitutional amendment on Wednesday. On Saturday, Democrat Abigail Spanberger will be sworn in as governor in Virginia after winning one of the most closely-watched gubernatorial races of 2024.

Virginia officials have said the statewide special election will likely be a springtime election. It is also unclear whether the state’s candidate filing deadline — which is currently April 2 — will be pushed back to accommodate the special election.

On Thursday, in anticipation of the passed constitutional amendment, Virginians for Fair Elections launched a campaign urging Virginians to vote “yes” on redistricting, echoing the Proposition 50 campaign in California that helped Democrats there secure their new maps.

Similar to California’s ballot initiative, Virginia’s new maps would be temporary if approved. The Virginia General Assembly would have the power to redraw congressional districts only until 2030, after which the responsibility would return to the state’s bipartisan redistricting commission.

When Republicans in Texas redistricted their maps to favor their party further last summer, they kicked off a redistricting arms race that still isn’t over. There are still conversations around possible redistricting measures in more states, including Maryland and Florida.

Many of the redistricting measures that have already kicked off are making their way through the courts. In California, Republicans vowed to appeal a decision made this week by a panel of federal judges that upheld the Proposition 50 maps approved by voters in the fall.

That legal battle could make it to the Supreme Court, which has already weighed in on a redistricting fight. In December, the Supreme Court upheld Texas’ redistricting moves.

Virginia Democrats in October announced they were preparing to redraw the state maps. Earlier this week, Democratic leaders told reporters that the proposed maps would be made public later this month.

“We are looking at a special election for a statewide referendum to have the voters have their say in potentially April,” Del. Cia Price said during a press conference on Wednesday, according to the Virginia Mercury. “And then once that kicks in, if the voters were to give us that power, we would then be looking at a modified schedule for the primaries, and then our November elections will happen as scheduled.”