Democrats Apoplectic Over ‘Sickening’ Virginia Supreme Court Ruling
As Axios described it, Democrats “fell into a state of anguish.” One lawmaker responded to their request for comment in a one-word text: “F***.”
House Democrats were outraged on Friday after the Virginia Supreme Court voted 4–3 to strike down the party’s redrawn congressional map. Last month, Virginia voters narrowly approved the new map, which was expected to deliver Democrats a 10–1 advantage in the state’s House delegation, potentially handing them up to four additional seats in the 2026 midterms. While the current split of 6-5 still favors the Democrats, this decision clearly bolstered the Republicans’ chances of keeping the House majority.
The ruling stated, “We hold that the legislative process employed to advance this proposal violated Article XII, Section 1 of the Constitution of Virginia. This constitutional violation incurably taints the resulting referendum vote and nullifies its legal efficacy.”
The decision marked a major victory for the GOP and left House Democrats reeling, with many — mostly anonymously — venting their outrage to Axios.
As Axios described it, Democrats “fell into a state of anguish.” One lawmaker responded to their request for comment in a one-word text message: “F***.”
“Damn, California, and Virginia were supposed to be our bigger ones,” another replied. “This means we gotta make sure we have a good wave to win the House … we have to make sure we win a lot of those toss-ups. Democrats now have to pitch a perfect game.”
House Dems to @axios on Virginia:
"Damn, California and Virginia were supposed to be our bigger ones"
"F*****ck!!"
"Sickening"
"Deflating"
"How many millions are we spending on this when the DNC is in debt and we have 40 frontline races to win?" https://t.co/MH3KLJBrbI
— Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) May 8, 2026
Here are some additional comments from Democrats:
“Obviously it’s not good news and, coupled with the Voting [Rights] Act decision [in Louisiana], it shows that the manipulation that may impact November may be on the Republican side now.”
“It’s going to be deflating for some, but really it’s just a reminder that we are not invincible. We have felt so much momentum that it starts to feel like you can’t lose and this should be a wake-up call to Democrats that we still have a lot of work ahead of us.”
“Democrats cannot take a midterm victory for granted. Relying too much on the administration’s unpopularity and not enough of their own positive agenda could put an otherwise sure victory at risk.”
Although the decision was a major setback for the party, some Democrats are “still optimistic their party can win a big enough wave in November to overcome what is now a daunting structural disadvantage.”
Rep. Marc Veasey (D-TX) called the ruling “sickening” and acknowledged it was “clearly a disappointment.” But he still believes that Democrats will win back control of the House in November.
Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) agrees, saying, “In spite of all the redistricting machinations, I think we will take back the House.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) remained characteristically defiant, declaring in a statement: “We are exploring all options to overturn this shocking decision. No matter what it takes.”
One option reportedly under consideration is an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, though it is unclear whether the justices would agree to hear a case centered on state law issues.
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair Suzan DelBene (D-WA) also released a statement: “This is a setback that sends a terrible message to Americans – the powerful and elite will do everything they can to silence you.”
Some lawmakers expressed frustration over the Democrats’ expenditure of $62.5 million ahead of the referendum. Axios reports that the Jeffries-aligned 501(c)(4) group House Majority Forward alone spent $40 million.
One lawmaker told Axios, “I feel like this is a colossal waste of resources that will further erode our politics. How many millions of dollars are we spending on this when the DNC is in debt and we have 40 frontline races to win?”
Democratic Party darling Hasan Piker reacted to the ruling with an ominous threat. He warned, “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable.”
the va supreme court denied the results of the redistricting referendum. scotus gutted the voting rights act and tennessee carved up the last dem district destroying black voter power in the state.
those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable https://t.co/Ul1nW2oz29
— hasanabi (@hasanthehun) May 8, 2026
In the meantime, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling last week in Louisiana v. Callais, which determined that “the Voting Rights Act did not require Louisiana to create an additional majority-minority district” and that “the map [was] an unconstitutional racial gerrymander,” Republicans in red states with maps that were designed to include majority-black districts have increased their gerrymandering efforts.
For example, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) unveiled a new map that could give Republicans four more seats. On Thursday, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) signed a redrawn congressional map, which eliminates the state’s lone Democratic seat, into law.
Democrats would do well to remember three key points. First, the Virginia Supreme Court justices were not concerned about the redrawn map itself. Rather, they were focused on real constitutional issues about the process followed by lawmakers in advancing the amendment that authorized it.
Second, as Guy Benson notes in the X post below, Democrats have “already gerrymandered the states they control to the hilt.” There’s simply very little runway left for the party.
Currently, eight states, including Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Rhode Island, and Vermont, have no Republican representation in Congress.
Other states, such as California, Illinois, New Jersey, Oregon, and Washington, have only minimal Republican representation in the House of Representatives. And California’s recent redistricting efforts are expected to net the Democrats five new seats.
Finally, the deciding vote was cast by a Democratically-appointed justice.
In the end, Democrats are discovering that structural advantages and aggressive mapmaking can only take a party so far. With few remaining opportunities to squeeze additional seats out of already heavily gerrymandered blue states, the path back to a House majority will likely depend less on redistricting and more on winning competitive districts on the strength of their message, candidates, and agenda.
And frankly, other than “We hate Trump,” the Democrats have no message.
Part of the reasons CA & VA “were supposed to be their bigger ones” is because they’ve already gerrymandered the states they control to the hilt. https://t.co/pbtlfd2cCa
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) May 8, 2026
Elizabeth writes commentary for Legal Insurrection and The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Please follow Elizabeth on LinkedIn.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyxkAVsTfig
Branca breaks it down.
His analysis makes it easy to understand the simple issues that defeated deep state democrats this time
It’s no accident you haven’t seen this on Faux and elsewhere in the drive-by media.
“… the Virginia Supreme Court voted 4–3 to strike down the party’s redrawn congressional map.”
I will happily confess I was wrong about my prediction on this outcome. I didn’t think the VSC would deliberate and opine deep into the procedural weeds of the legislature.
A 4-3 win is a pretty narrow win, but a win is a win, and I will take the win and me being wrong about it.
You had a lot of company.
The question before the court wasn’t a “deep in the procedural weeds” question. It was simply “when the VA constitution uses the term ‘election’, what does it mean by it?” Does it mean election day, or the entire election season? There were good arguments either way, but it’s a simple matter for a court to decide.
I was not expecting a win because the court had twice overridden the Tazewell Republican judge’s injunctions. But I was pleasantly surprised when it refused to stay his third injunction, so I was open to the possibility that it might come out on our side in the end, which it did.
But I don’t blame the 3 judges who voted against. The other side had a good case, and I assume all 7 judges ruled in good faith, according to their honest understanding of the law.
“As Axios described it, Democrats “fell into a state of anguish.””. Meaning they fell but missed their fainting couches. From the floor they begin their habit of ‘erupting’ and other messy actions.
If they wanted to make it stick, they most certainly could have.. However, not on the timetable they wanted which is why they tried to short-circuit whole thing. Such an abuse of process that even the VA supreme court couldn’t find a way to ignore all of the abuse.
Three of them did. The dissent will be an interesting read.
No, it was not a clear abuse of process. It was a gamble. They were running short of time, so they took a reasonable position on the law and hoped the court would agree with them. Unfortunately for them, it didn’t.
It wasn’t reasonable.
Even your fellow Democrat could not be persuaded to perpetuate that lie.
But you, like the other three, are absolutely happy to do so.
No, I think it was reasonable. I listened to the oral arguments and both sides had good points. It turned out the way I wanted, but I could easily see it going the other way. There is a lot of wiggle room in the law and the VA Constitution is no exception.
I do think that allowing the referendum to stand on the two points that were considered was violating the spirit of the VA Constitution. But I can see the argument that it wasn’t violating the text of the VA Constitution.
Note: There were two more court cases bubbling up that were not decided: The biased language and the requirement for more compact districts. Even if this one didn’t go our way, there was still hope.
There you go again, you demon from Hell. You can’t help lying and lying and lying. You’re disgusting.
It’s going to be an interesting summer with riots coming to a town near you. The Dems have already gerrymandered pretty much all of their states to the max and they still can’t steal enough elections for a majority. They’ll follow Piker’s advice and hit the streets.
If there is violence let’s hope Piker gets what he so richly deserves.
He just parroted JFK’s quote. Conservatives aren’t violent as so many democrats are. If they were HP would be “Kirk-ed.
They can’t win legally but they still cheat. Their data needed for any race is fine tuned to the number needed to win. This is why they stack votes that 5hey “find” if needed. Mail- I’ve voting made the finds so much easier.
Waaahhhh! We can’t violate the law and gerry-womander our opponents out of existence! It’s not fair! Waahhhh!
Took one bite too many and now the DNC pays for it.
The Jacobins lost one. Piker predicts heads will roll.
The Dems tried the same (censored) in court that they did for election challenges. Before the election, they argued “Standing” as in “You haven’t been harmed yet, so you can’t sue.” Then after the election it became “Latches” as in “Well, it’s all over and you lost. Too bad. Can’t turn back the clock.” And they came within *ONE* vote in the VA Supreme Court of pulling this off again. Their fury at their unconstitutional scheme being undone by one of their own is delightful.
“One option reportedly under consideration is an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, though it is
unclearextremely unlikely, approaching zero whether the justices would agree to hear a case centered on state law issues.”A state supreme court decision construing a procedural issue under that state’s constitution? The Supremes are not touching this one with a barge pole.
“Democrats Apoplectic Over Sickening VA Supreme Court Ruling”
Can shorten to: “Democrats Sickening”
“This is a setback that sends a terrible message to Americans – the powerful and elite will do everything they can to silence you.”
Yes, very clear during covid, the Biden Invasion of Illegals, and the climate change scam. Anything fascist democrats didn’t like got censored, labeled misinformation, and cut off from social platforms by the 4 companies that control all mainstream news in America, Google, Facebook, the government; and sometimes destroyed your career.
That’s what happens when the inmates/idiots run the asylum.
As a Virginian who grew up in one of the counties that would have been disenfranchised, I am pleased by the court’s decision.
But make no mistake, the decision was based on the PROCESS the Dems in Virginia followed, and did not rule on WHAT they were trying to do.
If the Dems had paid more attention to the process, we would have been a goner.
Trust me, they have the power, they have the money, and they WILL be back. The Virginia Supreme Court will not be nearly as helpful next time.
Amirite?
Yep. They got greedy and reckless in moving too fast, arrogantly making a play for ’26 when they could have gotten it done for ’28 with a slight delay.
Instead the d/prog burned through something like $70 million of campaign funds. That’s money wasted now unavailable for ’26 midterm election cycle. Plus they went so far over their skies they have burned some bridges with potential voters, not just in VA either. All that and they still nearly lost at the polls.
They will absolutely go back and try again using a cleaner process to dot I and cross T but ramping up the Cray Cray and ‘end of the world’ forecasts to motivate the electorate might not be as easy to sell the second time around. Donors may not be quite so willing to write checks. Heck, the electorate itself may be a small bit different as Federal agencies begin pushing employees and contractors out of NOVA and into ‘flyover’ country.
That’s right, if they had been able to follow the directions on how to amend their state constitution, it would have stuck. But not on the timeframe they were demanding.
They will try again for 2028, and this time they’ll do it the right way because they have all the time in the world. If they succeed they will have every right to do it and we will have no grounds to complain; but who says they’ll succeed? This time around they only won by 3%; I wouldn’t bet on them repeating that next time.
“This is a setback that sends a terrible message to Americans – the powerful and elite will do everything they can to silence you.”
Funny, this is my opinion of Obama, et. al., and I’m quite sure that I’m on solid ground saying that it’s objectively true and that as applied to Trump it’s complete bull****.
More projection than Bell+Howell.
The delay is potentially good news but more importantly the news about the Democrats reaction is very important.
We have suffered more than our share of procedure defeats on gerrymandering and have never reacted like this. It says a lot about Democrats that they can’t take some judges telling them to comply with established state laws.
Democrats are very angry about having to reveal their nature so much so often now.
Appeal over what? I don’t understand how SCOTUS could have jurisdiction here. What federal issue could they raise?
Yup.
The Dems have gotta cheat way harder now to pull off their midterm win..
How long before they simply ignore these rulings?
They can’t ignore them. Holding an election on the map they tried to pass would be invalid, and the purported winners would not have been elected. If the Rs retained control of the house they would not seat these purported winners.