Oct. 30 (UPI) — Virginia’s legislature took steps to join the widening state-by-state redistricting battle ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
On Wednesday, the Virginia House of Delegates passed a constitutional amendment to redraw congressional boundaries mid-cycle.
The amendment advanced by Democrats in a 51-42 vote after it passed a legislative committee earlier that day.
Currently, Virginia Democrats hold a majority in both chambers. A Virginia Senate election committee passed the measure 8-6 and progresses to the full body for consideration.
Virginia’s redistricting was in response to Republican-led efforts and pressure by U.S. President Donald Trump to retain GOP control ahead of the every 10-year task to plan out new legislative maps consistent with the U.S. Census, most recently in Indiana and Missouri.
In August, the League of Women Voters came out in opposition to the unconventional mid-cycle gerrymandering effort as the group outlined non-partisan advice to help guide state lawmakers.
The Democratic amendment, if passed as expected, would give a limited time window for lawmakers to again execute a gerrymandered mid-cycle map.
It would only permit another alteration of congressional lines until October 2030.
On Monday, the commonwealth’s Republican legislative leaders filed a lawsuit in the belief Virginia’s House lacked constitutional power over redistricting.
Republican Attorney General Jason Miyare, in the middle of a tough re-election fight, issued an advisory opinion against the effort in Virginia pushed by national Republicans.
A professor called it “tit-for-tat redistricting wars.”
“Likely effect of this whole mess: competitive congressional districts move from endangered to extinct,” Chris Cooper, a political science professor at Western Carolina University, speculated last Thursday on X.
Meanwhile, a judge has set a declaratory judgement trial hearing for Nov. 5, a day after the pending election.
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