The Virginia Supreme Court on Friday blocked a new Democratic-drawn congressional map from taking effect, delivering a major boost for Republicans as they defend their narrow House majority in the midterm elections.
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Weeks after Virginia narrowly approved the plan in a statewide vote, the court ruled that Democratic lawmakers did not meet the procedural requirements to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot, which was written to pave the way for the redrawn district lines. Democrats were seeking a map designed to give the party up to four new House seats.
This ruling — coupled with Republican redistricting efforts in other states in the last year and the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling overturning racial gerrymandering regulations in the Voting Rights Act — means that Republicans will head into the midterms with a clear redistricting advantage.
Republicans could gain as many as 14 seats from redrawn maps across six states so far, compared to six for Democrats from redrawn maps. But there could be significant variation based on the actual election results in those new districts, which are not necessarily easy wins for the party that drew them.
Democrats need a net gain of at least three House seats in November to flip the House majority.
In Virginia, the state Supreme Court concluded that the state Legislature began their constitutional amendment process too late to be lawful.
“This violation irreparably undermines the integrity of the resulting referendum vote and renders it null and void,” the court wrote in their order.
And Justice Arthur Kelsey criticized the state for suggesting the court could not rule on the matter after voters had approved the constitutional amendment, noting its attorneys had also argued that the court shouldn’t rule before the special election.
Tens of millions of dollars were spent on the April 21 special election, with 3 million people casting ballots.
Virginians for Fair Maps, the group opposing the Democratic redraw effort, celebrated the court ruling in a statement.
“Virginians spoke loud and clear in 2020 that voters should pick their elected officials, not the other way around. Today, their voices were heard over the shamefully deceptive rhetoric and language of an unconstitutional effort by Richmond Democrats to carve up the state for themselves,” said group co-chairs Jason Miyares, the Republican former state attorney general, and Eric Cantor, the Republican former U.S. House majority leader.
Virginia House Speaker Don Scott, one of the leading proponents of the redistricting effort, said in a statement, “We respect the decision of the Supreme Court of Virginia.”
“This was always about more than one election — it was about whether the voices of the people matter,” he said. “And no decision can erase what Virginians made clear at the ballot box.
Lawmakers are required pass a constitutional amendment through two consecutive legislative sessions with an election in between before placing it on the ballot. Republicans argued that the Democratic-controlled Legislature first passed the amendment when early voting was already underway ahead of Virginia’s 2025 statewide elections. Democrats tried to counter by saying that Election Day itself, not the start of early voting, is the relevant date.
The state Supreme Court had previously allowed the April special election to go forward, while reserving the right to rule on the measure’s legality later on. Virginians narrowly voted in favor of the redistricting referendum by 3 points.
Virginia Democrats kick-started their multi-step redistricting process last fall in response to President Donald Trump urging several GOP-led states to redraw their maps ahead of the battle for the narrow House majority. They needed to amend the constitution to bypass a bipartisan redistricting commission, which was approved by voters in 2020, to pass the gerrymandered map proposal. California Democrats took a similar route to enacting a new map last year that could net the party up to five seats.
This fall’s midterm elections in Virginia will take place under the current map, where Democrats represent six of the state’s 11 congressional districts.