Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger officially endorsed a Democratic-led redistricting amendment set to go before the commonwealth’s voters on April 21.
The effort, spearheaded by Senate President L. Louise Lucas and House Speaker Don Scott Jr., is written to “restore fairness” in Virginia’s congressional representation. Critics have called that phrasing misleading, arguing the map designed by Lucas would likely would likely redraw districts in a way that removes every Republican lawmaker except Rep. Morgan Griffith.
“I supported the formation of VA’s bipartisan redistricting commission in 2020 and that support has not changed,” Spanberger said in a video address Thursday.
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What has changed, she said, is Republican-led states’ efforts to pursue their own redistricting moves, including in Texas. Indiana Republicans voted down a proposal that may have redistricted out some Democrats, including Rep. Frank Mrvan of Indiana.
Spanberger claimed the amendment is “temporary” and “directly in response” to actions in other states and to President Donald Trump’s reported comment that he is “entitled” to more congressional seats.
“It preserves Virginia’s fair redistricting process into the future,” Spanberger said from Richmond.
Incredulous Republicans piled on the Democratic governor on Thursday, noting her change in tune at least on a definitional level since McAuliffe and Youngkin-era redistricting moves.
Ian Lovejoy of Manassas and otherwise center-right Fauquier County — one of the slew of now-former Republican delegates ousted in the November blue wave that swept Spanberger into office — cited her comments after a 2019 redistricting effort was halted by the Supreme Court.
“This is good news for Virginia and the country. Gerrymandering is detrimental to our democracy and it weakens the individual voices that form our electorates. Opposing gerrymandering should be a bipartisan priority,” Spanberger said at the time, in a post screenshotted by Lovejoy.
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“I agree with the Governor on this one,” Lovejoy wrote in a caption accompanying the post.
“[A]nd [I] hope everyone votes no on the illegal gerrymandering amendment — early voting starts Friday.”
“Who could possibly vote against ‘fairness’?” asked Del. Wren Williams, R-Stuart, noting the turn of phrase in the measure.
“This ballot language is so heavy-handed and misleading that it’s essentially fraud on the people of Virginia,” Williams said. “It frames a blatant, maximalist partisan gerrymander as an act of restoration.”
Amid a flurry of lawsuits, the most consequential case is moving through courts in Tazewell County in the mountainous western end of the state.
In that case, Judge Jack Hurley Jr. declared the amendment process “void ab initio” over a conflict in statutory early voting timelines and alleged abuse of the state’s special session provision. He separately barred Tazewell County from preparing for the election.
A higher court stayed one of Hurley’s orders, allowing the referendum to move forward on April 21 while the merits of the case are decided. A top Republican lawmaker told Fox News Digital that could result in a ruling issued days after votes are cast.
On Wednesday, another development emerged as a new Bedford County lawsuit against an abortion rights amendment could also affect the redistricting measure.
Bedford County Supervisor Charla Bansley filed suit Tuesday, arguing the abortion initiative is invalid because the Democrat-led state legislature did not abide by a 1971 notice requirement mandating that all county clerks be notified for public inspection of the amendment three months before the 2025 election.
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A Republican source told Fox News Digital that Democrats “bet the farm” on the redistricting amendment, and that “if it fails on the notice requirement, so do their other three amendments.”
Bansley told the Virginia Mercury that her county, along with the independent city of Lynchburg and adjacent Campbell County, never received notice of that particular amendment.
The news sparked chatter, including in the Virginia Scope newsletter, that an unfavorable ruling for the legislature could also endanger the redistricting amendment.
Abortion amendment sponsor Sen. Jennifer Boysko, D-Great Falls, told the Mercury the lawsuit is a “frivolous attempt” to silence voters.
Neither Scott nor Lucas have responded to several prior inquiries about criticisms of the redistricting amendment.
