Redistricting battle pushed to Virginia Supreme Court

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - The legal battle over redistricting is likely headed to the Virginia Supreme Court, where judges will decide whether Democrats’ efforts to redraw Congressional lines ahead of 2026 midterm elections can proceed.

In a filing Wednesday, the Virginia Court of Appeals moved to push the case to the High Court, noting that the legal questions at hand were “of such imperative public importance as to justify the deviation from normal appellate practice and to require prompt decision in the Supreme Court.”

If the Court rules with Democrats, Virginians will vote in a statewide referendum, scheduled for April 21, and decide whether they want the state to amend its own Constitution and gerrymander in favor of nine or ten left-leaning districts.

That effort, which Democrats in Richmond initiated in response to President Trump directing red states to redraw their own lines, was struck down by a Tazewell County Circuit Court judge last week. Democrats, the judge ruled, violated state law by failing to follow the rules for expanding the scope of the special session, and initiated the process weeks after early voting began.

Democrats, though, appealed immediately, with Democratic State Senator Creigh Deeds telling 29News they are “full steam ahead” on redistricting.

Virginia Democrats had pledged to release an image of what the new Congressional map would look like by the end of January, but have missed their own deadline.

Larry Sabato, Director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, says that’s thanks to political infighting among Democrats and personal political aspirations.

“There are loads of individual battles,” Sabato said. “You’ve got Democrats fighting Democrats because they want a good district and they’re furious that the other guy took several counties that they wanted in their district. But the real battle is between the House and the Senate. The Senate wants certain people they favor in the House of Representatives...and the House of Delegates wants the very same thing for their people.”

That includes Delegate Dan Helmer, who Sabato pointed to as a contender for a potential Congressional seat, depending on what those districts look like.

“He is very lucky to have the Speaker, who’s very powerful and tough, Don Scott, in his corner, and that is helping him enormously, and may get him a district,” Sabato said. “But the State Senate doesn’t care if the Speaker likes Dan Helmer...It’s a mess. But it was always going to be a mess. It always is a mess. The difference is we used to have this only once every ten years.”

According to reporting from the Virginia Scope, Governor Abigail Spanberger’s Chief of Staff has been calling Democrats asking if they’d support a 9-2 map (one that carves out nine left-leaning districts). Many Democratic leaders in the General Assembly, however, have consistently pushed for a 10-1 map. When legislation setting the referendum date reaches her desk, Spanberger will have to take definitive action on the redistricting effort - something Republicans say will be a big test for the newly inaugurated governor.

The decision Wednesday comes as the U.S. Supreme Court allows California’s redrawn Congressional map favoring Democrats to stand.

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