The effort to redistrict Virginia’s congressional districts in the middle of the normal 10 year period comes on the heels of other states' efforts to do the same in hopes of affecting the U.S. House of Representatives political make-up following the 2026 midterm elections. The post General Assembly passes constitutional amendment to redraw Virginia’s congressional maps appeared first on Cardinal News.
The Virginia state Senate voted to pass a constitutional amendment Friday that would allow the General Assembly to conduct an unprecedented mid-decennial redraw of its congressional district map ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
The Senate passed the measure in a 21-16 party-line vote. The House of Delegates passed the measure in a 51-42 party-line vote on Wednesday after it was reported out of the House Privileges and Elections Committee earlier the same day.
The next step in the constitutional amendment process is for the measure to be taken up again during the 2026 General Assembly session. If it passes a second time, it will go to a voter referendum, likely in the spring.
The text for the proposed amendment was released Tuesday, the second day of the General Assembly’s special session centered on the effort. The measure, championed by Del. Rodney Willett, D-Henrico County, would provide “explicit authority” to the General Assembly to modify one or more congressional districts outside of the standard 10-year redistricting cycle.
Trigger language is included in the legislation that allows for off-schedule redrawing of Virginia’s congressional map to take place only if another state in the U.S. has undergone redistricting outside of the standard cycle or for any purpose other than complying with a state or federal court order to remedy an unlawful or unconstitutional district map.
Several Republican-controlled states have already done so, starting with Texas, followed by Missouri and North Carolina. Democratic-controlled California has scheduled a referendum to do so on Nov. 4.
The Virginia constitutional amendment comes with an expiration date, however. It limits the ability of the General Assembly to redistrict the state’s congressional maps to roughly five years: between January 1, 2025, and October 31, 2030, in response to actions taken by another state within that same time frame.
Republicans have decried the effort as “unconstitutional,” while Democrats have characterized it as necessary given the actions in other states ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
The last time Virginia’s congressional map was redrawn was in 2021.
Amendments, floor speeches and pending litigation
Three amendments were introduced by Sen. Chris Head, R-Botetourt, that aimed to remove the ability to redraw the congressional maps from the General Assembly — as written in the constitutional amendment — and put it in the hands of the bipartisan redistricting commission.
Democrats called Head’s amendments a “poison pill” in floor speeches, and Republicans argued that it would more closely align the effort with the current constitution. Head’s amendments failed in a 16-21 party-line vote.
While debating the constitutional amendment over the course of the special session, Republicans have repeatedly argued that the effort disenfranchised voters who had already voted early in the 2025 election before the process started. Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin County, and other Republicans argued that the effort is unconstitutional while on the state Senate floor on Friday.
Sen. Aaron Rouse, D-Virginia Beach, pointed out that any map that is presented through the redistricting process will be reviewed by the courts. Rouse is the chair of the Senate Privileges and Elections Committee.
Sen. Travis Hackworth, R-Tazewell County, pointed out that certain precincts in his district voted overwhelmingly in favor of establishing the bipartisan election commission in 2020. Sen. Suetterlein, R-Roanoke County, argued that “gerrymandering is wrong,” and that President Donald Trump’s call for Texas to redistrict in the middle of the decennial was a mistake.
Republicans have set up “multiple parallel avenues of litigation” to challenge the effort to redraw Virginia’s congressional maps, said Del. Tom Garrett, R-Louisa County, on Wednesday.
Those avenues of litigation include a complaint by Republicans that questions the constitutionality of the process. It was filed in the Tazewell County Circuit Court, and a hearing is set for Nov. 5. Sen. Mark Peake, R-Lynchburg, said to expect “tons” more lawsuits to be filed against the measure after the legislation passed on Friday. Peake is the chair of the Republican Party of Virginia.
Lawmakers react after the passage
If Republicans win the House of Delegates and the Governor’s elections on Tuesday, it is likely that the redistricting effort could come to a halt, Peake said.
“If we don’t win Tuesday and we come back in January and then we vote [on the redistricting measure] in April, if we don’t win that vote, then there will be more lawsuits,” he added. “It’s possible we won’t have a resolution to the lawsuits until May or June.”
Sen. Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax County, called the passage of the amendment an effort to “take back democracy in our country.”
Sen. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton, said that if Virginia’s Republicans were in the majority, they would have likely done the same thing as Texas, Missouri and North Carolina — states that had redistricted their maps to create more congressional seats for GOP members.
“We are simply… putting ourselves in a position that if we have to, make some changes,” she added.
Surovell said that if the court system stops “partisan gerrymandering” efforts in Republican states, then Virginia Democrats would likely not move forward with their redistricting effort. Prototype maps have not been discussed by the Democratic caucus, lawmakers said. The effort, if successful, will likely decrease the number of Republican congressional seats in Virginia’s delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives.
“We’ll have to see where things stand in three months. Right now we’re kind of in a wait-and-see mode. We had to start this process today or else we wouldn’t even have the option in January,” he said.
Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin issued his rebuke of the passage of the amendment on Friday.
“Everything about this process was shameful, fundamentally wrong, and illegal,” he said. “Virginians are not ‘leverage.’ They deserve fair districts, and they will not forget this injustice.”
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