Virginia Democrats are pushing a plan to redraw the state’s congressional map, a move that legal experts and Republican lawmakers say is unconstitutional under Virginia law. The effort also appears to be a last-minute “October surprise” to juice turnout of Democratic voters and take Republicans off the campaign trail in competitive races, including Lieutenant Governor Winsome Sears, who must preside over the Virginia state Senate.
The proposal, introduced in the House of Delegates this week, under a special session, would reopen the state’s redistricting process less than five years after the current maps were approved. Democrats claim the change is needed to “reflect new population shifts,” but the Virginia Constitution clearly forbids redistricting more than once per decade, except in the case of a census or a federal court order.
The current Democratic candidate for governor, Abigail Spanberger, used to support bipartisan redistricting, as noted by the current governor, Glenn Youngkin:
The last redistricting happened in 2021 following the 2020 Census. That process, handled by the bipartisan redistricting commission created through a 2020 constitutional amendment, produced court-drawn maps that both parties agreed would remain in place for ten years.
A Constitutional Line in the Sand
Article II, Section 6 of the Virginia Constitution is clear:
“The General Assembly shall reapportion the Commonwealth into electoral districts in the year 2021 and every ten years thereafter.”
Republican lawmakers argue that the new Democratic plan to “update” the lines before 2031 is an illegal attempt to get around that rule and override the will of voters who approved the nonpartisan, once-a-decade process.
Delegate Nick Freitas of Culpeper called the move “a power grab, plain and simple.”
“Democrats couldn’t win under the fair maps voters chose, so now they’re trying to rewrite the rules in the middle of the game,” Freitas said. “This isn’t about fairness or demographics. It’s about protecting their seats and silencing Republican voters.”
Undoing the Trump-Era Map
The current Virginia congressional map, finalized in 2021, was created under the state’s new redistricting commission, which passed with strong bipartisan backing and support in 2020 from nearly 66 percent of Virginia voters. The commission’s court-approved map produced several competitive districts that helped Republicans regain ground in central and southwestern Virginia while keeping Northern Virginia securely Democratic.
Since then, Democrats have lost control of key swing areas, and with the 2026 midterms approaching, they appear determined to reclaim the entire state. The move is widely viewed as an effort to weaken and eliminate Republican representation in a state that is nearly 50/50 in politics.
A senior GOP campaign advisor said the timing tells the story.
“They see Trump’s [midterm] momentum coming back and they’re panicking,” the advisor said. “This is about insulating incumbents before the wave hits.”
A Legal Gamble
Democratic leaders are describing the plan as a “temporary adjustment” based on population growth, even though there is no census or legal requirement that allows it. They argue the redistricting commission’s maps no longer “reflect the diversity of the Commonwealth.”
Legal experts say that the argument doesn’t hold up. There is no constitutional or statutory authority for mid-decade redistricting, and the Virginia Supreme Court has already rejected similar attempts. In 2015, the court ruled that the state could not alter district lines without a clear legal reason.
“The Constitution is plain,” said former state attorney general Ken Cuccinelli. “There’s one redistricting per decade, not whenever one party feels like changing the outcome.”
The Broader Political Stakes
The Virginia fight is part of a larger pattern across several Democratic-led states, where lawmakers are trying to change or ignore existing maps approved after the previous census. In New York, Democrats were blocked by the state’s high court after trying to override their own redistricting commission. Similar clashes have occurred in Maryland and Illinois.
Republicans warn that if Democrats succeed in Virginia, it could open the door for other states to ignore their own constitutions whenever it benefits them politically.
“They talk about saving democracy,” one GOP strategist said, “but when democracy gives them a map they don’t like, they just erase it.”
Bottom Line
Virginia voters approved the 2020 redistricting amendment to stop this kind of political manipulation. Democrats supported it then, but are ignoring it now. Their attempt to force a mid-decade map rewrite without legal authority is not reform. It is a defiance of the rule of law.
If Republicans hold firm, the plan may backfire and remind Virginians why they voted for independent maps in the first place.