Democrat lawmakers say President Donald Trump\u2019s redistricting gambit is backfiring as Virginia\u2019s Democrat-controlled Senate advanced new congressional maps that could chip away at the House GOP’s majority.<\/p>\n
The Virginia Senate voted 21-16 along party lines on Wednesday<\/a> to pass a set of new congressional maps that would leave just one Republican district in play.<\/p>\n Republicans currently hold five.<\/p>\n To Republicans like Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., that\u2019s too drastic a swing for a state that only has 11 districts to begin with. Even in light of similar redistricting pushes in Texas, California and other states, Wittman believes Virginia\u2019s case is unique.<\/p>\n DOJ URGES SUPREME COURT TO BLOCK CALIFORNIA MAP, CALLS NEWSOM-BACKED PLAN A RACIAL GERRYMANDER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n “This partisan power grab is not reflective of Virginia. Virginia is a 6-5 congressional delegation: six Democrats, five Republicans. And now they want to go to 10 Democrats, one Republican \u2014 92%,” Wittman said.<\/p>\n “They\u2019re going to disenfranchise most Virginians, if not all of them, that are Republican or independent<\/a>.”<\/p>\n Despite the size of the change the maps would bring, Democrats believe it\u2019s just the latest continuation of a fight that Trump started.<\/p>\n “You have to fight fire with fire,” Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va., told Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n “The voters that I\u2019m talking to feel that we can\u2019t just sit back and be victims of redistricting. I don\u2019t think this would be happening unless [Trump] pushed for redistricting in Texas<\/a> and other red states,” Subramanyam said.<\/p>\n When asked if he thinks the changes would go too far, Subramanyam said he thinks Republicans will have a chance to press their case at the ballot box.<\/p>\n “If Republicans can win over the hearts and minds of Virginians, they will have a good cycle. It’s a very volatile map in that sense, and so I know many have argued that this is actually fair. I would say that it’s certainly a map where, if Republicans campaign well and their message resonates, they can win too,” Subramanyam said.<\/p>\n Since Trump urged lawmakers in Texas to push through a map change in July 2025, state legislatures across the country have explored ways to squeeze out a congressional advantage where control of the House hangs by a two-seat thread.<\/p>\n TEXAS FILES EMERGENCY SUPREME COURT PETITION AFTER TRUMP-BACKED CONGRESSIONAL MAP BLOCKED BY FEDERAL JUDGES<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Virginia\u2019s map change, on its own, would give Democrats a path to flipping control of the chamber in November.<\/p>\n But the maps aren\u2019t a sure thing. Their implementation turns on pending legal battles<\/a> about whether the shakeup complies with the state\u2019s constitutional requirements, according to a complaint filed late last year.<\/p>\n On Friday, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled<\/a> that the redistricting consideration could continue while it deliberates over a final ruling on whether the maps are permissible.<\/p>\n To become official, maps will also require a statewide constitutional referendum<\/a>. Under current law, Virginia\u2019s constitution outlaws gerrymandering, the practice of drawing congressional districts to purposefully benefit a political party.<\/p>\n Subramanyam said the referendum gives voters a chance to express their will.<\/p>\n “It will come down to the voters. One good thing in Virginia is that people will have a say and can vote on the referendum in April. Folks in Texas, like where my family still lives, didn\u2019t have a choice,” Subramanyam said, noting that Texas\u2019s redistricting push didn\u2019t require a constitutional amendment and was decided purely by the legislature.<\/p>\n Wittman believes the fact Virginia is looking to upend its own constitution should make the reshuffle a foregone conclusion.<\/p>\n When asked whether he sees Virginia\u2019s redistricting question as a consequence of the redistricting in Texas, Wittman said the two situations differ because of existing state law.<\/p>\n JEFFRIES SAYS GOP ‘DONE EFF’D UP IN TEXAS,’ VOWS THEY WON’T WIN FIVE SEATS: ‘THEY CAN’T IGNORE IT’<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n “Each state has their own constitution as to how they put together their congressional districts. Virginia\u2019s is very clear. A super majority of voters \u2014 66% of the voters \u2014 said we want a bipartisan redistricting commission. That\u2019s Virginia,” Wittman said, referring to the 2020 vote in Virginia that outlawed gerrymandering.<\/p>\n “Texas is doing what Texas and its constitution allow,” he added.<\/p>\n Upon teeing up that referendum, Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger<\/a> framed the action as a way to give Virginians a voice in a national debate over congressional redistricting.<\/p>\n “Virginia voters deserve the opportunity to respond to nationwide attacks on our rights, freedoms and elections\u2026 I trust Virginia voters to respond,” Spanberger said in a statement.<\/a><\/p>\n Voters in the state will consider whether to “temporarily adopt new congressional<\/a> districts to restore fairness in the upcoming elections” on April 21.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Democrat lawmakers say President Donald Trump\u2019s redistricting gambit is backfiring as Virginia\u2019s Democrat-controlled Senate advanced new congressional maps that could chip away at the House GOP’s majority. The Virginia Senate voted 21-16 along party lines on Wednesday to pass a set of new congressional maps that would leave just one Republican district in play. Republicans … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66399","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66399","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66399"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66399\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}