Virginia Democrats Vote to Redraw Congressional Map, Target Four-Seat Gain
Indiana state Sen. Jean Leising (R): “I don’t know why, if the proponents wanted this bill to pass, why they didn’t use some kindness.”
The Virginia state Senate passed a constitutional amendment on Friday that, if approved by a statewide referendum, would allow the Democrat-controlled legislature to redraw the state’s congressional maps before voters head to the polls this fall. This move could hand the Democrats four new seats in Congress.
The Commonwealth is divided into 11 congressional districts. Democrats currently hold six of those seats, and the GOP, five. If the Democrats’ redistricting efforts are successful, that balance would be transformed into a 10–1 supermajority, all but erasing Republican representation.
The measure cleared the state House on Wednesday, putting the decision into the hands of Virginia voters. An April referendum is expected, and approval would lock in a new congressional map through 2030.
Who can fault the Democrats for trying to maximize their power? They know exactly what’s at stake. Four new seats could mean the difference between being shut out of power for another two years or taking back control of the House.
Republican lawmakers came out swinging over this development, but they should keep in mind that while Democrats have long benefited from gerrymandering, it was Trump who initiated the most recent round by pressuring Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) to redraw his state’s congressional map last summer.
Fox News reported that the Virginia Senate Republican Caucus accused the state Senate Democrats of passing “a partisan gerrymandering amendment to entrench their party in power.”
In a statement to Fox, Republican National Committee national press secretary Kiersten Pels wrote:
This is just the most recent example of Democrats’ multi-decade campaign to gerrymander in every state where they gain power. This is exactly why red states are fighting back to level the playing field after years of states like Illinois, New York, and California drawing their districts to disenfranchise Republicans.
In a Friday statement, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Rep. Suzan DelBene called the move:
A critical step in giving Virginia voters the opportunity to ensure they have fair and equal representation in Congress.
Donald Trump and Republicans are doing everything they can to rig the midterms in their favor through unprecedented mid-decade gerrymandering. Virginians — not politicians — will now have the chance to vote for a temporary, emergency exception that will restore fairness, level the playing field, and stand up to extremists seeking to silence their voices.
In light of this bold move by the Virginia General Assembly, independent journalist Greg Price noted that former Vice President Kamala Harris won the state by six points in 2024. Yet, he pointed out that Republican lawmakers in Indiana — where President Donald Trump won by 20 points in 2024 — refused to redraw their map “because he was ‘too mean’ to them.”
Price is not exaggerating. In December, Indiana’s Republican-led Senate — despite enjoying a supermajority — rejected calls from the Trump administration and allied groups to redraw the state’s congressional map. The decision likely cost the GOP two additional House seats that could have made a big difference in the upcoming midterms.
According to PBS, “in firmly delivered remarks,” Republican state Sen. Greg Goode said at the time that “some of his constituents objected to seeing their county split up or paired with Indianapolis. He expressed ‘love’ for Trump but criticized what he called ‘over-the-top pressure’ from inside and outside the state.”
State Sen. Jean Leising (R) told ABC News she voted against the bill because the “vast majority” of her constituents opposed it.
“I had my legislative assistant keep a count every day of how many calls and emails came in … only about 8% supported redistricting in my district, so it was an easy decision for me to be a no on this bill.”
Leising said that after speaking at her grandson’s school on Veteran’s Day, he later told her, “All my friends and I got negative texts about you.”
She later received a bomb threat, telling ABC that while it did not intimidate her, the immense pressure from all directions had upset her. “I don’t know why, if the proponents wanted this bill to pass, why they didn’t use some kindness, why they didn’t use some explanation as to why it should pass.”
Kindness? Really? Would Democrats in Virginia — or anywhere else — give the “kindness” with which they were treated a second thought? They wouldn’t and they didn’t.
Ahead of the vote, Trump criticized Indiana senators who opposed a redrawn map, and threatened to support primary challengers against them. He warned state lawmakers on Truth Social: “If Republicans will not do what is necessary to save our Country, they will eventually lose everything to the Democrats.”
But his pleas fell on deaf ears.
Politics is ultimately about power, not posturing. Democrats in Virginia understand that, and they’re acting accordingly. Republicans elsewhere may prefer moral lectures and self-restraint — and in Sen. Leising’s case, kindness — but elections are decided by maps, margins, and math. Those unwilling to play the game shouldn’t be surprised when they keep losing it.
Every Virginia Democrat just voted in lock step to redraw a state Kamala won by six to a 10D-1R map.
S/o to the Republicans in Indiana who refused to do this in a state President Trump won by 20 because he was "too mean" to them. https://t.co/pP3D5npt8j
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) January 16, 2026
Elizabeth writes commentary for Legal Insurrection and The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.
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Comments
Indiana, like many Midwest and Plains states, has many legislators who wear Republican skin suits for the sole purpose of holding office.
This really is infuriating.
“Democrats – Disenfranchising voters to save democracy or something”
– The Democrats
And I’m speaking as a disenfranchised voter in MA where I have effectively no representation at any level.
Democrats are turning the entire state into San Francisco.
Rename the state South DC.
While the great migration will benefit the electoral college for the GOP it will cause more red seats to turn blue for the House. As leftists pour into Wa from Ca, AND conservatives flee Wa… expect them to gerrymander all the remaining seats to be blue. Same with NY and Illinois and pick your other hell hole blue state.
Politicians should not be allowed to choose their voters. Freedom of representation is at issue here.
The midterms are looking grim in the House. Thanks, Indiana.
Spanberger’s actions belie her reputation as bipartisan. In general, I do not like politicians who previously worked in the intelligence community. Most often they are gifted liars who become ruthless and authoritarian if given the opportunity. Spanberger’s mask will come off sooner or later..
politicians who are gifted liars… imagine that
Every dem elected to state office here has to run under bipartisan lipservice to clinch the election. They don’t practice it when they get in office but they always say they will. The AG only got in because he was down ticket of a governor believed to be. I don’t know why people here keep believing this farce.
“The measure cleared the state House on Wednesday, putting the decision into the hands of Virginia voters.”
Virginia is chock full of AWFLs…who vote.
She also sabotaged VA LEOs from cooperating with ICE.
Democrats are cheats and thieves. Their sole desire is POWER. They are doing everything they can to start a new Civil War.
Republicans: Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory
Oh, yay. Another thing to worry about.
Can we just Dunmore the new administration, please?
What is Dunmore?
Here you are:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Murray,_4th_Earl_of_Dunmore
10 to 1. The party of democratic values, or so they say.
Virginia GOP could try suing, but
In the Eastern District of VA federal court, 7 of 11 judges were nominated by Dem Presidents. In the Western District. in the eastern District of VA, 3 of 4 judges by Dem Presidents.
You know what that means.
Suing for what? Unless they have proof (as they do in California) that the map is drawn on racial lines, there’s nothing to sue for. Once the state constitution is amended to allow the legislature to do this, there will be no legal reason why they shouldn’t.
Enough with the racial crap in laws … there is a hell of bigger difference between individuals based on political views than level of of melanin in their skin….Republicans are being disenfranchised and not allowed to have representation…. Sue on that… something that actually means something… but I’m sure YOU will disagree because you are all about the law being twisted and abused and used in exactly the opposite way it was intended
You are full of crap. Gerrymandering based on political advantage is COMPLETELY LEGAL. The ONLY limit on a legislature’s right to draw whatever boundaries it likes is the prohibition on doing so to disadvantage a racial group — except where it is required to do so, and no one can predict in advance when such districting is illegal and when it’s required. But other kinds of gerrymandering is 100% legal and there is no basis for suing. Republicans are not entitled to be elected. Nor are Democrats.
I disagree with you on that last point. Democrats believe they are entitled to be elected even in predominantly Conservative areas. They know they are the only truly enlightened people who should rule.
They can believe whatever they like, but the law doesn’t agree with them. The law says no one is entitled to be elected.
IMO, the problem here is that many, like the Indiana GoP legislative leadership, don’t grasp/refuse to acknowledge that politics is first and foremost about gaining and retaining power. It doesn’t matter what your policy agenda is, how altruistic, how much better your governing philosophy and principles are if you don’t win the elections required to gain and maintain power.
The leftist/wokiesta d/prog have no such delusion. The pearl clutching Ned Flanders types on the right keep insisting on Marquis of Queesberry rules for the decades long street brawl we’re engaged in. When we have a candidate who, relative.to their State/CD electorate, is the most ‘conservative’ candidate who can reasonably be expected to win we back them. See Susan Collins. Conversely when the candidate/office holder is less ‘conservative’ we should primary them. See John Cornyn.
That means we also have to be willing to accept that when a particular figure is 85% + voting for/pushing policies we agree with then we gotta live with the 15% we.disagree with. There’s an ongoing shift within the center/right coalition which is more populist in nature than many appreciate. This shift is in essence forcing every policy question to be looked at through the lens of ‘does this action benefit or is it in the direct interest of the broad middle-class (70% between the top 15% and bottom 15%) and if the answer is no then it is far less likely to be enacted. If we fail to offer meaningful support and championing of the broad middle-class we’re gonna lose elections and the power that comes with victory to the leftist/wokiestas.
I read a somewhere a while back that the best conservative legislation is passed in states where the GOP controls the legislature by a narrow margin, and that states with overwhelming GOP control are not only laggard, but more likely to be co-opted by minority Dems (looking at you, Wyoming, South Dakota).
As Dan Bongino always says, “Some Republicans are really Democrats. No Democrat is really a Republican.”
Used to be when Democrats joined the real world and got their first taste of the government stealing from them, they turned Republican.