The move could increase the Democrats’ chances of winning four currently Republican-held seats in Congress in midterm elections in November.
Voters in the US state of Virginia on Tuesday narrowly approved a plan to redraw congressional electoral boundaries.
The constiutional amendment could increase the Democrats’ chances of winning four currently Republican-held seats in Congress in midterm elections in November.
It bypasses a redistricting commission made up of Democrats and Republicans and allows a new map drawn by the state’s Democrat-majority General Assembly.
Republicans currently hold a slim majority in the lower house of Congress, the House of Representatives, with 217 seats to the Democrats’ 213.
“Virginia just changed the trajectory of the 2026 midterms,” the speaker of the lower house of the state’s legislature, Don Scott, said in a statement.
“At a moment when Trump and his allies are trying to lock in power before voters have a say, Virginians stepped up and leveled the playing field for the entire country,” he said.
“Virginia voters have spoken, and tonight they approved a temporary measure to push back against a President who claims he is ‘entitled’ to more Republican seats in Congress,” Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger said.
President Donald Trump had urged Virginians to vote against the measure, saying in a post on his Truth Social platform: “VIRGINIA, VOTE ‘NO’ TO SAVE YOUR COUNTRY.”
Why is Virginia redrawing electoral districts?
The measure comes after Texas lawmakers redrew the congressional map of the state in August, which could help Republicans pick up five more seats in midterm elections.
The new Texas map was introduced after Donald Trump urged his party to redraw districts to the benefit of Republicans.
Republicans went on to carry out similar measures in the states of Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio, while Democrats responded with a redrawing effort in California in November.
Republicans are to continue the redrawing battle in Florida, with plans for the state’s legislature to hold a special session on redistricting on April 28.
The outcome of the Tuesday vote in Virginia could help effectively cancel out the Texas redistricting.
Edited by: Louis Oelofse
DW News
