Former Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin accused the state’s sitting governor, Abigail Spanberger, of “illegal and unconstitutional” gerrymandering amid her push to redraw Virginia’s congressional maps.
Virginians will vote April 21 on Spanberger’s redistricting referendum, a move that Youngkin said would give Democrats 10 of the state’s 11 congressional seats.
Youngkin’s criticism of his Democratic successor comes as newly resurfaced comments from Spanberger highlight a shift in her stance on gerrymandering.
“Gerrymandering is detrimental to our democracy and it weakens the individual voices that form our electorates. Opposing gerrymandering should be a bipartisan priority,” Spanberger wrote in a post to X, formerly Twitter, in June 2019.
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Fox News host Sean Hannity said it is “corrupt” for Democrats to hold 10 of Virginia’s 11 congressional seats, noting that President Donald Trump lost the state by about six percentage points.
Currently, Republicans hold five congressional seats, while Democrats hold six.
Youngkin accused Spanberger of a “bait and switch” as several Virginia cities and counties pushed back against her redistricting referendum, which could restructure almost all the state’s GOP-held districts.
Critics also said the map redraw would unfairly boost Spanberger’s base by creating five new districts, potentially diluting the influence of rural voters in central and Western Virginia.
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However, Spanberger’s office has denied claims that any internal deals were made to benefit Democratic candidates.
Youngkin lamented that the legacy he built in Virginia will be undermined under Spanberger and new Democratic leadership, including Lt. Gov. Ghazala Hashmi and Attorney General Jay Jones.
“It’s most frustrating for people in Virginia — really frustrating for me — because we had, I think, advanced the state to literally a nationally leading position across job creation and financial security and opportunity and safety and education, but now we see them trying to undo all of it,” he told “Hang Out with Sean Hannity.”
Spanberger’s popularity has declined since her November 2025 victory, with 46% of Virginians disapproving of her performance — the highest disapproval rating at this point in a term for any Virginia governor in over three decades, according to a Post-Schar School poll.
George Mason University Schar School Dean Mark Rozell, the poll’s co-sponsor, said it is “unusual” to see results like this so early in Spanberger’s term after running on a “centrist image.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Spanberger’s office for comment.
