State legislators are back in Richmond as Democrats seek to change Virginia’s congressional map. But Republicans promised the changes won’t happen without a fight.
“They’re trying to change our constitution and they’re violating our constitution by doing it this way,” said Mark Peake, a state senator from Lynchburg and chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia.
The House of Delegates voted Monday afternoon to expand the scope of an ongoing special session of the General Assembly to include redistricting. The Senate will convene Tuesday morning to consider the resolution again.
Virginia voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2020 calling for a bipartisan commission to draw the state’s congressional maps. The commission failed to reach an agreement, so the Virginia Supreme Court drew the maps used in the past two congressional elections.
“I think the map that they did implement, especially for Congress, was fairly fair on a partisan basis,” said Nicholas Goedert, an associate professor of political science at Virginia Tech. “It gave the Democrats a narrow advantage, but one that reflected the Democratic lean of the state.”
Currently, Virginia Democrats hold a 6-5 edge in congressional seats, although all three seats covering Southwest Virginia and areas like Lynchburg and Danville are held by Republicans.
“It seemed to me that Virginia could fairly easily draw a nine-to-two Democratic map. And in most of these proposals, the two Republican vote sinks would be in Western Virginia,” Goedert said.
Democrats want to change the process, at least in part, in response to moves by other states that have redistricted mid-decade. It’s part of a push by the White House to get Republican-led states to help shore up the GOP majority in the U.S. House in the 2026 midterm elections.
The timing is critical for Democrats. They basically have this week to change the rules, as lawmakers would need to pass a constitutional amendment in two successive legislative sessions, with an election in between. That election is Nov. 4.
“Certainly, their advantage in both houses of the state legislature right now is very, very narrow. They can’t really afford to lose any votes on that,” Goedert said. “And Democrats would like to significantly expand this in next week’s election.”
If the amendment is approved by the General Assembly, voters would then get a say, likely sometime early next year.