FIRST ON FOX: A redistricting referendum backed by Virginia Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger is the culmination of a rapidly escalating “power grab” by Democrats in what has been a key swing state for years, a new report by the Honest Election Project Action (HEP) alleges.
HEP’s report argues that after regaining control of the state from Republicans in 2025, Democrats are now “rigging the rules so they never lose power” again. Leveraging their unified control, the report points to the Democratic-majority Virginia legislature passing 54 election bills this session, which it said is “more than any state in the nation.”
Among the bills passed by the Virginia legislature were measures to bar immigration enforcement officers from voting locations, expand ranked-choice voting and place new limits on the removal of voters deemed ineligible. Spanberger also signed a bill to add Virginia to the National Popular Vote Compact, a coalition of states committed to awarding their Electoral College votes to the winner of the national popular vote. Perhaps most controversial, however, Spanberger signed another bill setting in motion a referendum to allow the legislature to redraw congressional districts that critics say would heavily favor Democrats.
“Democrats used their newfound status to launch a partisan power grab and a deliberate assault on election safeguards,” the report alleges, adding, “Virginia is the latest example of the left’s gerrymandering hypocrisy: condemn it when done by opponents, stop at nothing to impose it when it delivers power.”
If approved by voters Tuesday, the referendum would amend Virginia’s constitution to allow lawmakers to redraw the state’s congressional districts ahead of the 2026 midterm elections and implement a new map immediately. The change would temporarily override the state’s current bipartisan redistricting process for this cycle, with the existing system set to resume afterward.
Besides signing the bill to set the redistricting referendum in motion, Spanberger has also given her full endorsement of the amendment. In a March statement, she emphasized that “Virginia’s approach is different” regarding redistricting.
She framed the amendment as a temporary measure “directly responsive to what other states decide to do,” stressing that “it preserves Virginia’s bipartisan redistricting process for the future.”
“I supported the formation of Virginia’s bipartisan redistricting commission in 2020, and that support has not changed,” she said. “What has changed is what we’re seeing in states across the country — and a president who says he is ‘entitled’ to more Republican seats before this year’s midterm elections.”
“Virginians have the opportunity to take action in response to this extraordinary moment in history. That’s why, as a Virginia voter, I’m voting in favor of this amendment,” Spanberger added.
The effort has also been supported by former President Barack Obama, who recently released an ad urging Virginians to vote “yes” for the amendment.
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Meanwhile, Honest Election Project argues in its report that “far from ‘strengthening democracy,’ Virginia’s 2026 session is a case study in the left’s agenda to trade election security for political advantage.”
The report points out that during the session, Democrats “delivered on virtually every major item on the left’s election-law wish list.”
In all, the report says that Virginia lawmakers introduced 103 election-related bills, 93% of which it says were ultimately sent to Spanberger. Thus far, the governor has signed nine of those measures, per the report.
Among the other policies HEP takes issue with is a measure to prohibit immigration enforcement within 40 feet of a polling place, election board meeting site or recount location. The report accused Virginia Democrats of working to “exploit election law to hamper federal immigration enforcement and essentially turn areas around polling places into expansive sanctuary zones for illegal aliens.”
The report also slams Virginia Democrats over ranked-choice voting and the National Popular Vote Compact, both of which it calls “structural changes to push politics to the left.”
The Virginia legislature also passed a constitutional amendment to automatically restore voting rights to convicted felons upon their release from prison. Virginians will have the opportunity to approve or reject the amendment at the ballot box this November.
Another measure passed by the legislature was a bill barring officials from cross-checking the state’s voter roll against the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database to identify noncitizens, and from removing ineligible voters based on a SAVE match. While Spanberger stated, “I approve the general purpose of this bill,” she returned the bill to the legislature with amendments.
HEP argues that based on the data, Virginia “stands out for the breadth and depth of its efforts to rewrite election rules.”
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Jason Snead, executive director of Honest Elections Project Action, told Fox News Digital that “in just four months, Virginia Democrats, under Abigail Spanberger’s leadership, have launched a blatant, partisan assault on election integrity to try to rig the rules to solidify permanent Democratic power in Richmond.”
“But that’s just par for the course for Democratic lawmakers nationwide, whose first move after gaining power is to always rewrite the rules for their benefit,” asserted Snead.
He added that Honest Elections Project Action is “proud to expose Democrats for this shameless power grab and urges Virginians to make their voices heard in opposition.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Spanberger’s office and the offices of Virginia Speaker of the House Don Scott and Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell for comment.
