{"id":17674,"date":"2026-01-14T00:31:43","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T00:31:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/virginia-democrats-look-to-decimate-gop-seats-in-redistricting-effort\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T00:31:43","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T00:31:43","slug":"virginia-democrats-look-to-decimate-gop-seats-in-redistricting-effort","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/virginia-democrats-look-to-decimate-gop-seats-in-redistricting-effort\/","title":{"rendered":"Virginia Democrats look to decimate GOP seats in redistricting effort"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Virginia Democrats are launching their last big campaign in the redistricting wars this week \u2014 but big questions loom about whether they can agree on how to maximize benefits to their party and whether they can convince voters to support their power grab.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, the Virginia Legislature kicks off its first session since Democrats won unified control of the commonwealth in last November\u2019s elections. A persistent divide has emerged however, between Democrats who hope to draw an aggressive gerrymander that could deliver them 10 of the state\u2019s 11 congressional seats \u2014 a four-seat grab for their side that would wipe out all but one GOP congressional district \u2014 and those who want to take a more subtle approach to offsetting GOP gerrymanders elsewhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be a real debate. I mean, we want to get as much as we can, but we also want the referendum to pass,\u201d Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) told Blue Light News Tuesday afternoon, adding that an expected Supreme Court decision this year on the Voting Rights Act could ultimately give Republicans more seats.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Democrats] basically have voting rights act seats in South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana,\u201d he said. \u201cThey could all be gone, right? So that’s a great concern. So it’s essential in Virginia that we look at the fairness argument from a national perspective, not just the Commonwealth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Virginia\u2019s current congressional delegation has six Democrats and five Republicans, so under the new maps Democrats would likely pick up three or four seats.<\/p>\n

Democrats are worried that some of their members won\u2019t be as eager to take on so much in such a truncated period of time. The party will need to be unified if they stand any chance of selling voters on the urgency of empowering legislators to draw new Congressional lines within a matter of weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t heard a lot of people talking about how much work it\u2019s going to be to pass it,\u201d said one Virginia Democrat granted anonymity to discuss internal party discussions. The person added that some in the party are underestimating the amount of time and political capital it will take to prop up a statewide campaign for what is expected to be a special election in April.<\/p>\n

The National Democratic Redistricting Commission, the party\u2019s group leading the charge on redistricting, confirmed to Blue Light News it has presented two new maps to Virginia lawmakers. One remakes the map into a 9-2 configuration that only provides cover for districts held by Republican Reps. Ben Cline and Morgan Griffith from being eliminated. Another proposed map largely leaves intact Griffiths\u2019 seat and, if approved, could deliver a 10-1 map, a development first reported by Punchbowl News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

John Bisognano, the NDRC president, argues that aggressive changes to the current Virginia congressional maps are necessary to respond to brazen gerrymanders Republicans drew in other states under pressure from President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot for one second has Donald Trump laid down arms in this redistricting manufactured war that he created,\u201d he said, adding that Democrats have so far fought him nearly to a draw after states like Indiana rebuffed Trump\u2019s pressure campaign to take up recasting the state\u2019s congressional lines.<\/p>\n

Emboldened by their better-than-expected wins in statewide elections last year, Virginia\u2019s legislative leaders say they want to eliminate as many GOP seats as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said in August of 2025 that the maps will be 10-1 and I\u2019m sticking with that today,\u201d Virginia state Senate President Pro Tem L. Louise Lucas recently posted on social media<\/a>. \u201cAnyone in the congressional delegation who wants a seat needs to campaign for it and not expect a safe seat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Virginia\u2019s Democratic House Speaker Don Scott also previously said he\u2019s open to a 10-1 map<\/a> that favors his party. Scott and Lucas did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n

State Sen. Ryan McDougle, the top Republican in Virginia\u2019s upper chamber, criticized Democrats\u2019 redistricting push just five years after voters passed a constitutional amendment that gave the authority to draw legislative and congressional lines to a bipartisan commission of state lawmakers and citizens. And he argued it would mark the permanent end of independent redistricting in the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf this goes through, I find it hard to believe that we will not return to a path of gerrymandering in the future, because if [Democrats] can do it \u2026 I’m sure somebody will come up with a situation in the future that is just as egregious and do it back.\u201d<\/p>\n

McDougle is a plaintiff in a lawsuit seeking to block Democrats from what it says is \u201can unconstitutional redistricting amendment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s an illegal and unconstitutionally passed measure,\u201d said Michael Young, a Virginia-based Republican consultant working to block Democrats\u2019 redistricting push in the state. Previous conservative-led legal challenges<\/a> to the current redistricting battles in Virginia have so far been unsuccessful.<\/p>\n

Virginia\u2019s redistricting effort comes days after Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis called for a special legislative session in April<\/a> focused on mid-cycle redistricting that some predict could net Republicans between three to five seats. DeSantis said he wants to wait until April so he can get \u201cguidance\u201d from the Supreme Court since the justices are expected to rule later this year in a landmark voting rights case that could prohibit states from considering race when drawing new districts and give Republicans a freer hand to erase minority-majority districts. Some predict that, depending on the ruling, the high court\u2019s decision could help Republicans gain upwards of 19 seats<\/a> across several states.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know we have work to do, and I think we understand the assignment,\u201d said state Sen. Lamont Bagby, who also serves as the chair of the Virginia Democratic Party.<\/p>\n

Bagby said his party needs other Democratic-led states to join California, which passed a ballot initiative in November to help thwart Trump\u2019s push to eliminate seats currently held by Democrats in red-leaning states. Already, Texas, North Carolina, and Missouri have changed their maps, though some GOP-led states like Indiana have bucked the president. Bagby said if Democrats stand any chance of taking back the House, they need to fight using new rules of engagement that Republicans are utilizing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey’ve already done enough to force us to put this to voters,\u201d Bagby said. \u201cI don’t think anything’s changed.\u201d<\/p>\n

An unanswered question is how big of a role the incoming Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger, who will be sworn in on Saturday, will play in the redistricting fight. She bested her GOP gubernatorial challenger Winsome Earle-Sears by 15 points and Republicans lost at least 13 seats in the House of Delegates. A week before those elections, Democrats approved the first step of a multi-step process to amend the state\u2019s constitution to redraw congressional lines before the next Census in 2030.<\/p>\n

In an appearance on \u201cThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert<\/a>\u201d on Monday she expressed a desire to make good on campaign promises of making life more affordable for Virginians, but made no mention of redistricting. During a Blue Light News forum in Richmond last month, she stopped short of embracing a redistricting overhaul<\/a> that other governors have championed, including Gavin Newsom of California.<\/p>\n

After the Legislature gavels in on Wednesday, lawmakers are expected to pass another amendment that will pave the way for Spanberger to call a special election in the spring. That election will allow voters to decide whether to give state lawmakers authority to amend the state constitution and approve new congressional maps.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn light of what Texas, Missouri and now, Florida seem to be doing, it seems like we have a right to be in a position where we can take action if \u2026 Virginia voters allow us to do so,\u201d Virginia Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, a Democrat, said in an interview.<\/p>\n

Surovall said he does not foresee any major hurdles to a new map passage, though he anticipates there will need to be some reworking of the elections calendar to accommodate new candidate filing deadlines for federal House races once new maps are approved. The current deadline for House candidates is April 2, according to the Virginia Department of Elections<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Virginia Democrats are launching their last big campaign in the redistricting wars this week \u2014 but big questions loom about whether they can agree on how to maximize benefits to their party and whether they can convince voters to support their power grab. On Wednesday, the Virginia Legislature kicks off its first session since Democrats […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17674"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17674\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}