{"id":72216,"date":"2026-04-20T15:57:42","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T20:57:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/20\/spanberger-faces-bait-and-switch-backlash-in-final-hours-before-redistricting-referendum\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T15:57:42","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T20:57:42","slug":"spanberger-faces-bait-and-switch-backlash-in-final-hours-before-redistricting-referendum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/20\/spanberger-faces-bait-and-switch-backlash-in-final-hours-before-redistricting-referendum\/","title":{"rendered":"Spanberger faces \u2018bait-and-switch\u2019 backlash in final hours before redistricting referendum"},"content":{"rendered":"

Opponents of Virginia Democrats\u2019 redistricting referendum are accusing Gov. Abigail Spanberger<\/a> of a “bait and switch,” pointing to her campaign-trail pledge of “no plans” to redraw the state’s congressional map ahead of Tuesday\u2019s vote.<\/p>\n

Former Virginia Govs. George Allen and Glenn Youngkin, along with a slew of top conservatives, have opposed the effort, which would redraw the commonwealth\u2019s 6-5 Democratic map to a 10-1 map crafted by Senate President L. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, and backed by Spanberger.<\/p>\n

“Behold the great bait and switch,” Del. Michael Webert, R-Fauquier, said, sharing a screenshot<\/a> of October reporting highlighting Spanberger\u2019s apparent pledge not to support what she now is vocally behind.<\/p>\n

“Vote No,” said Webert, whose district forms a boundary between the Washington, D.C., suburbs set to accrue political power if the referendum passes and the hundreds of miles of rural expanse south and west that are poised to lose their voice.<\/p>\n

SOROS-BACKED GROUP AMONG LIBERAL ORGS PUMPING EYE-POPPING CASH INTO VIRGINIA GERRYMANDERING EFFORT<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The latter is a major concern for U.S. Rep. Ben Cline, a Botetourt Republican whose district runs from Roanoke to the northernmost West Virginia line at Berryville along the Blue Ridge Mountains and Shenandoah Valley, which Cline said stand to lose their otherwise homogenous voice in Washington.<\/p>\n

Cline told Fox News Digital how Spanberger was previously a colleague on the House Agriculture Committee and “loved to talk about her connection to Virginia agriculture.”<\/p>\n

“My district is currently the most agriculture-based district in Virginia and she has chopped it into five different districts and parceled it out to Northern Virginia Democrats to use to make their numbers work,” he said, adding that the referendum is offensive to Virginia farmers<\/a> in particular.<\/p>\n

In separate comments to “Ruthless”, Cline expounded on that point, saying the people of his current district stand to lose their voice because they will be split into five “spaghetti strands” originating from Arlington and Fairfax.<\/p>\n

“But we’re optimistic we’re going to be able to stop the governor in her tracks,” he said.<\/p>\n

OBAMA URGES VIRGINIANS TO VOTE YES ON REDISTRICTING MEASURE THAT COULD GIVE DEMOCRATS 4 MORE HOUSE SEATS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

“They\u2019ve pulled her ad from even running, yeah, because she’s so unpopular,” he said.<\/p>\n

Spanberger had been featured in a multi-million-dollar advertising campaign encouraging voters to support the redistricting referendum, but the Virginia Scope<\/a> reported that ad was recently pulled from circulation.<\/p>\n

“[The situation] slid south for her and that\u2019s what happens when you play bait-and-switch with the voters,” Cline said.<\/p>\n

However, the Vote YES campaign<\/a> denied Cline\u2019s characterization in a statement to Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n

“This is false,” the campaign said. “We\u2019re running a strong statewide campaign featuring a range of voices \u2014 including Governor Spanberger. This election is about stopping Trump\u2019s power grab and leveling the playing field \u2014 and that\u2019s exactly what a YES vote does.”<\/p>\n

In his remarks to “Ruthless,” Cline also cited the fact several Fairfax-area Democrats are already launching bids for the yet-unconfirmed “lobster”-shaped redrawn seat that is the most prominent slice of his district.<\/p>\n

VIRGINIA CONGRESSMAN SAYS SPANBERGER WANTS TO ‘TURN US INTO NEW ENGLAND’<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

“I didn\u2019t think Dan Helmer could find Shenandoah Valley on a map, but yet he\u2019s going to be campaigning and asking for votes [here],” he said of the far-left delegate from Fairfax who helped spearhead the redistricting effort itself.<\/p>\n

Helmer, a combat veteran, also crafted the commonwealth\u2019s sweeping gun control bill lambasted as a “gun grab.”<\/p>\n

“You have a leader in the Virginia House of Delegates, on the Democratic side, who crafts maps for his benefit\u2026 They\u2019re enacting laws to help them get elected to Congress, not enacting laws to help Virginians get ahead” Del. Joe McNamara, R-Roanoke, told the Virginia Mercury<\/a> of Helmer\u2019s position.<\/p>\n

When asked about Cline and others criticizing his decision to run in the redistricted district, Helmer told Fox News Digital that as the Virginia House Democrats\u2019 campaign chair, he already succeeded in such rural areas.<\/p>\n

“I’ve campaigned in every corner of this district \u2014 from Rockingham to Louisa, Arlington to Powhatan. Because of those efforts, 14 MAGA Republicans [in the state legislature] are now unemployed and doom scrolling LinkedIn instead of harming Virginia families \u2014 and this November, we’re going to add Ben Cline to that list,” Helmer said.<\/p>\n

Several other Democrats<\/a> including former first lady Dorothy McAuliffe and JP Cooney \u2014 an ex-aide to Jack Smith \u2014 are also running there.<\/p>\n

Turning to the new maps, only Rep. Morgan Griffith\u2019s district stands to remain Republican.<\/p>\n

House Minority Leader Terry Kilgore, R-Gate City, represents much of that district in Richmond and has joined barnstorming efforts by Youngkin and former Attorney General Jason Miyares across his<\/a> far southwestern district.<\/p>\n

Youngkin\u2019s 2021 victory was pegged in-part to Republicans running up the score<\/a> in albeit sparsely populated counties like Wise, Scott, Dickenson and Lee, and the same strategy appeared afoot in the closing weeks of early voting.<\/p>\n

DAVID MARCUS: RICH MEN NORTH OF RICHMOND SET TO STEAL THE VOTES OF RURAL VIRGI<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

In Dickenson County, home to late music legend Ralph Stanley, Kilgore recently joined local leaders to call for a surge to the polls.<\/p>\n

“We just want everybody to vote \u2018No\u2019,” he said<\/a>, as state Sen. Todd Pillion, R-Bristol, reported 500 people had already early voted in the sparse county that day.<\/p>\n

“We can win this,” Kilgore said. “We do not want Fairfax County controlling our congressional districts and we want to protect rural Virginia.”<\/p>\n

At the other end of the commonwealth, where another rural region is set to be sliced up and attached to Fairfax, Rep. Rob Wittman of the Northern Neck echoed concerns similar to Cline\u2019s.<\/p>\n

“Governor Spanberger said it clearly: \u2018I have no plans to redistrict Virginia\u2019. But now, Richmond politicians are pushing a referendum to do exactly that\u2014redraw congressional maps in the middle of the decade,” Wittman said.<\/p>\n

“A 10-1 map would erase millions of voices \u2013 that’s not representation; that’s partisan gerrymandering,” he said.<\/p>\n

Tazewell County Circuit Court Judge Jack Hurley \u2014 who issued an injunction against the referendum until the state Supreme Court<\/a> stepped in \u2014 also led criticism of the term “restore fairness” being used on the ballot as the official description of what voting yes would do.<\/p>\n

Hurley said the language was unconstitutionally misleading and that “[it] would lead a voter to believe he or she were doing something unfair by voting against the proposed amendment.”<\/p>\n

While the higher court mooted whether the election could move forward, filings from plaintiffs and defendants on the merits of the case<\/a> are due Thursday \u2013 when the bench will ultimately decide whether to undo any prospective passage of the referendum.<\/p>\n

Fox News Digital reached out to Spanberger, Helmer and Virginians for Fair Elections for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Opponents of Virginia Democrats\u2019 redistricting referendum are accusing Gov. Abigail Spanberger of a “bait and switch,” pointing to her campaign-trail pledge of “no plans” to redraw the state’s congressional map ahead of Tuesday\u2019s vote. Former Virginia Govs. George Allen and Glenn Youngkin, along with a slew of top conservatives, have opposed the effort, which would … 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-72216","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\/72216","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=72216"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72216\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}