Virginia Democrats in the House of Delegates advanced a proposal Wednesday to redraw the state’s congressional maps for the 2026 midterms, joining a handful of other states in doing so. With under a week to go until Virginia’s gubernatorial election, the Virginia General Assembly held a special session at the Capitol Monday to begin the process, which will require multiple votes of the General Assembly and ultimately, a statewide referendum.
Virginia has 11 members in the U.S. House of Representatives — six Democrats and five Republicans. The ongoing special session could result in a constitutional amendment that would allow for the redrawing of the congressional maps, and this shift could result in up to a three-seat gain for Democrats. And while Republicans in other states have attempted redistricting efforts, Virginia Republicans made clear they strongly oppose the current attempt.
Congressional maps are typically up for redistricting every 10 years after the Census comes out with new population data. Four years ago, the Supreme Court of Virginia produced the congressional and legislative maps used today following the 2020 Census, and the next maps were to be updated following the 2030 Census.
This redrawing of congressional maps before 2030 would require an amendment to the state constitution, suspending the current bipartisan commission if in a response to redistricting in other states. Two separate votes of a majority of the General Assembly would be needed to pass such an amendment — one this week, and another after Jan. 14 once the newly elected delegates have taken their seats. If the amendment is approved in the second vote, it would then need to pass a statewide referendum held at least 90 days after the vote, all before the primaries June 16.
Democrats have control over both chambers of the General Assembly, and constitutional amendments do not require the governor's signature.
Legislators were called to the Capitol on short notice due to a special session Youngkin had called in May 2024. In this session, legislators were to address the Commonwealth’s budget, and because the session was never adjourned, legislators meeting this week are technically meeting as part of this year-and-a-half long special session.
The text of the proposed amendment by House Democrats — House Joint Resolution 6007 — was released Tuesday. It allows for the General Assembly to redraw district lines before the next planned redistricting if another state redraws its districts for political purposes. The amendment only applies for Jan. 1, 2025 to Oct. 31, 2030.
“The amendment provides explicit authority … to modify one or more congressional districts, outside of the standard decennial redistricting cycle, in the event that any other state conducts a redistricting … outside of the standard decennial redistricting cycle or for any purpose other than complying with a state or federal court order,” the amendment reads.
The Republicans won a 220-215 seat majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, though there are some current vacancies, but the party in power tends to lose seats in the midterm elections. In an attempt to prevent this switchover, the Trump administration began a campaign over the summer starting with Texas to redraw maps favoring more Republican seats. Republican states including North Carolina, Indiana and Ohio have followed suit in redrawing their congressional maps to grant more seats to the party in power, while Democratic states like California, and now, Virginia, have joined them to respond.
In 2020, Virginians voted to establish the Virginia Redistricting Commission, which aimed to develop maps in a more bipartisan manner instead of having the maps drawn by the General Assembly. The Commission included five legislators and eight citizen panelists in the last redistricting effort. It draws maps for the General Assembly to approve, and should the Commission fail to successfully pass redistricting plans, then the Supreme Court of Virginia would assume the responsibility, which it did in December 2021.
Winsome Earle-Sears, Republican gubernatorial candidate and lieutenant governor, released a statement Thursday expressing her opposition to the special session for redistricting. The statement called the redistricting attempt a "desperate political stunt” to pull her off the campaign trail — one of her duties as lieutenant governor is to serve as President of the Senate of Virginia, meaning she has to leave the campaign trail to fulfill her duties during the special session. According to Earle-Sears’ campaign spokesperson, the Democrats’ move comes from a place of panic.
“With just 12 days until Election Day, [Spanberger] and her Democrat allies have given up on talking to voters about real ideas and solutions,” the spokesperson said in the statement. “Instead, she’s leading the charge on cheap political stunts to slow down [Earle-Sears’] momentum.”
Both Earle-Sears and State Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, left the campaign trail for Richmond Monday. With just a 21-19 majority in the Senate, Democrats can only afford to lose one vote in the chamber, meaning Hashmi — who is actively campaigning — and other Democrats must be present for the amendment to pass.
Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Abigail Spanberger said Monday she did not oppose the General Assembly’s efforts to propose the amendment allowing for the redistricting. She said that due to campaign plans, she is not interfering with the proposal and amendment process. Earlier this year, Spanberger said she had no plans to redistrict to increase the party’s majority.
Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares issued an official opinion opposing redistricting Monday.
“This last ditch effort by politicians to hijack the redistricting process (and avoid accountability for doing so) is precisely why I supported the Nonpartisan Redistricting Commission as a delegate,” Miyares wrote. “Keeping politics out of the process was the right thing to do then, and I strongly believe that it is the right thing to do now.”
Meanwhile, Democratic Attorney General Candidate Jay Jones published a statement Tuesday criticizing Miyares’ opposition as demonstrating his alignment with President Donald Trump and blocking a fair process.
“Trump has been pressuring Republicans nationwide to rig redistricting in his favor,” Jones said. “Now, Jason Miyares is attempting to block a fair, legal process that would return power to Virginians, doubling down on his fealty to Donald Trump and his MAGA agenda.”
Amidst the anticipatory days preceding Tuesday’s elections, Rep. John McGuire (R-Va.) criticized Democrats for forcing Earle-Sears and Republican legislators to leave the campaign trail for Richmond, and he said that the “gerrymandering scheme” is hypocritical.
“A few years ago, Democrats put a ton of effort into establishing a non-partisan redistricting commission so politicians could not gerrymander Virginia districts,” McGuire said in a press release. “Now Democrats want to eliminate the commission and gerrymander Virginia districts to keep Winsome off the campaign trail and take away your voice.”
Democrats have not introduced legislation attempting to eliminate the Commission, only to allow the General Assembly to redraw maps mid-decade if other states do first.
In a statement posted to X, Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) called Spanberger “bought and paid for by the far-left” by a $150,000 donation to her campaign from the Democrat Redistricting Committee. According to OpenSecrets, a public resource for donation information, the National Democratic Redistricting Committee did make such a contribution to Spanberger’s campaign.
According to The Washington Post, Spanberger said she was not involved in calling the session, and Virginia’s governor does not hold jurisdiction over proposing nor passing constitutional amendments like the one needed for redistricting.
Public polling currently shows Spanberger with a comfortable lead over Earle-Sears, and Election Day will take place Tuesday. The special session must wrap up before Election Day in order to be successful, but the revised maps may take months to solidify.
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