A highly anticipated ruling from the Virginia State Supreme Court handed a victory to Republicans in the state’s battle over redistricting ahead of the midterms.
The court shot down the results of April’s referendum authorizing a Democratic-led effort to redraw the state’s congressional maps. It’s a fight Democrats say was started by Republicans in other states.
“Huge relief, the rest of Virginia just breathed out today and said, ‘Thank God,’ because we really felt like we were just going to get completely silenced and forfeit all kind of representation to Fairfax County,” said Republican Del. Wren Williams, who represents parts of southwestern Virginia in the state house.
The map proposed by Virginia Democrats would have likely handed their party a 10-1 advantage, a stark change from its current 6-5 delegation.
According to the ruling, Democrats didn’t follow proper procedures when placing the measure on the ballot — voiding the results of the special election.
Politicians on either side of the aisle are arguing the issue of redistricting comes down to voter representation.
Republicans have said the proposed maps would disenfranchise members of their party in Virginia by gerrymandering the districts.
But Democrats argue that Virginians made their voices heard in last month’s referendum, when voters passed a congressional amendment to temporarily allow mid-decade redistricting.
Gov. Abigail Spanberger said the vote signified Virginians’ desire to push back on President Donald Trump’s efforts to gain seats through redistricting.
“I am disappointed by the Supreme Court of Virginia’s ruling, but my focus as Governor will be on ensuring that all voters have the information necessary to make their voices heard this November in the midterm elections because in those elections we — the voters — will have the final say,” Spanberger .
Meanwhile, Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones said his office is looking at potential legal pathways to push back against the court’s ruling on redistricting.
“This decision silences the voices of the millions of Virginians who cast their ballots in every corner of the Commonwealth, and it fuels the growing fears across our nation about the state of our democracy,” Jones .
Jones had previously argued that the referendum and redistricting processes were legal and in line with the state constitution.
“The Republican-led majority of the Supreme Court of Virginia contorted the plain language of the Constitution and Code of Virginia to give it a meaning that was never intended, which allowed them to reach the wrong legal conclusion that fit their political agenda. The consequences of their error are grave.”
Arguments before the Virginia Supreme Court came down to the way an “election” is defined.
Virginia law required lawmakers to put the issue of redistricting before voters as a proposed amendment to the state’s constitution. The legislature needed to approve the resolution during two separate sessions, with a state election in between, to put the amendment on the ballot.
“The idea would be that voters would be quite aware of the fact that the General Assembly would be considering a constitutional amendment and influence how they vote,” former Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, a Republican, told ²ÝÝ®´«Ã½. “In this case, rather than pass this earlier in the year, in January or February, they waited until late October, a week before the election in which a million people had already voted.”
The General Assembly approved of the amendment in late October, while early voting was taking place but before Election Day in November. Then the second vote happened during the most recent legislative session in January.
The attorney representing the legislature said an “election” should represent Election Day alone, which would mean lawmakers had followed proper procedures on the redistricting referendum.
But the court sided with the argument that an “election” represents the entire time period people cast ballots.
Miyares said he’s “grateful for the ruling,” which he called “a win for the rule of law.”
Relief for Republicans, defeat for Democrats
The ruling comes as a relief for the Republican representatives whose seats would be at risk under the map proposed by Democrats.
Republican Rep. Jen Kiggans represents District 2, which is anchored in Hampton Roads. Under the proposed map, her district would be redrawn to give Democrats a slight advantage.
“Had Abigail Spanberger and the rest of Virginia’s democrats succeeded, they would have caused irreparable harm to our democracy and disenfranchised millions of Virginians. I thank the Supreme Court for its courage in standing up for what is right,” Kiggans wrote in a .
The ruling shakes things up for Democrats who had already expressed interest in running for congressional seats in redrawn districts, including Del. Daniel Helmer, who represents parts of Fairfax County in Virginia’s House of Delegates.
Helmer was among the lawmakers who helped put the issue on the ballot. He told ²ÝÝ®´«Ã½’s Scott Gelman the court’s ruling on redistricting put “partisan politics ahead of the will of the people.”
“It’s part of a pattern of Republican judges all over the country kowtowing to Donald Trump. It obviously requires us to fight back and we’re going to keep fighting for America and our democracy,” Helmer said.
When asked about how Democrats might push back, Helmer said “all options are on the table.”
Virginia State Sen. Scott Surovell told ²ÝÝ®´«Ã½ he believes two seats could still be flipped by Democrats under the existing map.
“We need Congress to act like an independent branch of our government, like it was designed to by James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, and we need another voice in D.C. so our state and our democracy is protected,” Surovell said. “And I’m worried that without those extra votes we might not be able to do that.”
²ÝÝ®´«Ã½’s Scott Gelman, Nick Iannelli and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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