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DEMOCRATS BIG WIN: VIRGINIA VOTERS GREEN LIGHT REDISTRICTING PLAN

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Democrats are celebrating a big win: Virginia voters have given the green light to a redistricting plan that will likely give Democrats a big edge in the 2026 mid-term elections.

Virginia voters on Tuesday approved a Democratic redistricting plan that could allow the party to pick up as many as four new seats in the midterm elections, NBC News projects.

The special election is a major victory for Democrats as they seek to gain control of the narrowly divided House this fall. Democrats have now won statewide votes in California and Virginia to redraw congressional maps as part of a mid-decade redistricting arms race that began last year when President Donald Trump urged GOP-led states to alter their district lines.

Republicans had hoped they could insulate their three-seat House majority, but the result of the redistricting back-and-forth may end up being close to a wash.

The constitutional amendment that was on the Virginia ballot Tuesday sought to authorize the Democratic-controlled Legislature to bypass the state’s bipartisan redistricting commission and implement a new congressional map through the end of the decade.

Democrats’ proposed map is designed to leave just one solidly Republican district out of 11 in the state. Currently, Virginia is represented by six Democrats and five Republicans in the House.

After Republicans enacted new maps last year in Texas, Missouri and North Carolina, Virginia offered a rare, seat-rich prize for Democrats — who control the redistricting process in fewer states — as they sought to respond.

“Virginia just changed the trajectory of the 2026 midterms, Virginia Democratic state House Speaker Don Scott said in a statement. “At a moment when Trump and his allies are trying to lock in power before voters have a say, Virginians stepped up and leveled the playing field for the entire country.”

Democracy Docket:

Voters in Virginia have greenlit a redistricting plan that could see Democrats gain up to four more seats in Congress during the 2026 midterm elections.

The Associated Press called the special election at 8:49 p.m., less than two hours after polls closed.

Virginia is now the second Democratic-controlled state to approve a redistricting plan in response to President Donald Trump’s unprecedented mid-decade gerrymandering in other states.

The win likely neutralizes Republicans gerrymandered gains, and may actually give Democrats an advantage in the 2026 midterms.

Former President Barack Obama (D) congratulated Virginia voters in a social media post Tuesday.

“Republicans are trying to tilt the midterm elections in their favor, but they haven’t done it yet,” he said. “Thanks for showing us what it looks like to stand up for our democracy and fight back.”

Despite the electoral victory, the new congressional map proposed under the measure is not guaranteed to be enacted.

And now it’ll go to the courts:

The redistricting plan faces multiple legal challenges from Republicans. The Virginia Supreme Court previously ruled that the special election could proceed despite the pending litigation, meaning the battle now moves into the courtroom.

Nonetheless, Democrats celebrated the win.

Virginia Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell (D) called it a victory for democracy.

“Fairness won. Accountability won,” Surovell said in a statement. “And the Commonwealth that gave America its Constitution has once again reminded the nation what the Constitution is for.”

ID 351549233 | Redistricting ©
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