Virginia Democrats are attempting to create a new congressional map in 2026 that could help them win four new seats.
Amid efforts in other states to make maps more favorable to Democrats or Republicans, Virginia House of Delegates Speaker Don Scott outlined the state’s plans to do the same at a meeting of the Virginia Property Owners Alliance.
Scott said President Donald Trump was “bullying” other states to redraw their congressional maps, causing Virginia to do the same. “We didn’t want to have to do this,” he said. “This was done because Donald Trump told Texas, Indiana, North Carolina—our neighbors—to rig their elections.”
The speaker said a new map could change the balance of the state legislature from six Democrats and five Republicans to 10 Democrats and one Republican, meaning Democrats would gain four more seats.
Newsweek contacted the Democratic Party of Virginia and the Republican Party of Virginia for comment outside normal business hours.
Why It Matters
Republicans and Democrats have been engaged in a redistricting war over the past few months, with both parties attempting to draw new state maps to affect the results of future votes.
What To Know
Virginia’s redistricting plans were first reported in October when Democrats in the state legislature recommended an amendment that would allow it to bypass the bipartisan commission the draws Virginia’s maps.
Scott said changing the makeup of Virginia’s state delegation from six Democrats and five Republicans to 10 Democrats and one Republican was “not out of the realm” with new maps.
Mark Shanahan, who teaches American politics at the University of Surrey in the U.K., told Newsweek: “The Virginia plans are contingent on what happens in other states. If these remain mired in court action, it’s unlikely Virginia’s plans will progress. The mid-decade redistricting began as a Trump-inspired move to secure the House for the GOP, but as well as being caught up in legal challenges, every red state move is being matched by blue states. It’s less and less likely that redistricting will deliver a decisive result in 2026.”
On November 4, California voters passed Proposition 50, an amendment put forth by Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom in response to Texas’ redistricting efforts. The proposition would temporarily revise the state’s congressional map, a move expected to boost Democrats in future elections.
Republican lawmakers in Louisiana have also recently moved forward with plans that could allow mid-decade redistricting ahead of next year’s midterm elections. But similar efforts have faced issues in other states, including Texas, where federal judges ruled against a Republican-drawn congressional map.
The three-judge panel wrote in the ruling, “Substantial evidence shows that Texas racially gerrymandered the 2025 Map.” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has said he will file an appeal with the Supreme Court and ask for a stay of the order.
What People Are Saying
Virginia Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, a Democrat, told WAMU’s The Politics Hour on November 7: “There’s two seats that are pretty obviously in play. And after that it’ll probably get pretty hard, but you know, anything’s possible.”
What Happens Next
For the Virginia redistricting to go ahead, there would have to be an election on whether to adopt the amendment allowing the legislature to redraw maps.
Meanwhile, redistricting conflicts are likely to intensify as the midterms approach. Republican-led Florida is also considering redistricting plans, while New Jersey Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat, has said she is open to it.
