A little less than two weeks ago, Virginia Democrats passed an amendment to the state constitution to allow them to redistrict the state in time for the next election.
The Virginia Senate passed a constitutional amendment Friday to pave the way for a mid-decade redistricting push, the final legislative step needed to send it to voters for approval.
This is actually the second time they’ve passed this because of the unusual requirements to make it work.
The process in Virginia has been uniquely complex. Lawmakers needed to pass the amendment during two separate legislative sessions, with an election in between. So after passing the measure before last November’s elections, both chambers took it up this week as lawmakers returned to Richmond.
The amendment must appear on the ballot at least 90 days after final passage, which would be April 16. Since Virginia’s primaries are slated for June, lawmakers will need to call a special election this spring for a new map to be in place this year.
It’s a messy process but also the only way they can get around a law passed five years ago which handed redistricting over to a bipartisan redistricting commission. Unfortunately, today the plan hit a roadblock. A judge in a rural county of Virginia didn’t follow proper procedures.
Tazewell County Circuit Judge Jack Hurley Jr. ruled that Democrats in the General Assembly failed to follow the correct procedures when they launched a last-minute effort to change the state’s constitution and pave the way for a mid-decade redraw.
Democratic legislative leaders said they intended to immediately appeal the ruling. If the ruling is upheld, however, it delivers a major blow to the party’s hopes of picking up as many as four additional seats in November’s midterms…
Hurley struck down the legislature’s move on several grounds, ruling that lawmakers last year failed to vote on the amendment before the public began casting ballots in the November 2025 election and did not publish the amendment three months before the election, as required by state law.
The plaintiffs behind the lawsuit declared victory.
The Republican plaintiffs in the suit issued a statement praising the court’s ruling, calling it a “decisive victory for the rule of law” but also noting this legal challenge was not about partisanship, rather the process the majority used in attempting to rewrite Virginia’s Constitution.
“The court confirmed that Democrat legislative leaders unlawfully expanded a Special Session, violated their own rules, and attempted to force through a redistricting constitutional amendment while Virginians were already voting,” said Del. Terry Kilgore, the top Republican in the Virginia House, state Sen. Minority Leader Ryan McDougle and former Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said in a joint statement Tuesday.
Meanwhile, state Democrats vowed to fight on:
“Nothing that happened today will dissuade us from continuing to move forward and put this matter directly to the voters,” Senate and House Democratic leaders in the General Assembly said in their joint statement. “Republicans who can’t win at the ballot box are abusing the legal process in an attempt to sow confusion and block Virginians from voting.”
This is potentially a big blow to the overall Democratic efforts. For comparison purposes, Dems hope to gain 5 seats from California redistricting. In Virginia, Dems currently hold 6 of 11 House seats but they hoped new maps effort would help them gain three or even four more seats. But unless their appeal succeeds pretty quickly, that’s not going to happen.
Primary voting in the state is set to begin May 1, a little over three months from now. So time is running out to appeal this, get it approved by the voters and hold the primary.
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