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.”
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.”
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.
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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