The Democrats’ appeal to the Supreme Court faced significant legal hurdles because judges typically defer to state courts when interpreting state laws.
Democrats face major redistricting setbacks in Tennessee and Virginia
Democrats face redistricting setbacks following a Virginia Supreme Court ruling and newly approved Tennessee congressional maps.
WASHINGTON – A Virginia Democratic Party’s bid to win four more seats in Congress was defeated by the Supreme Court on May 15, putting the national party at a disadvantage in the ongoing redistricting battle.
In a one-sentence order, the justices left in place a Virginia Supreme Court ruling that struck down a measure that would have allowed lawmakers to draw maps favorable to Democrats in midterm elections. None of the judges publicly objected.
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, who supported the new map, said before the ruling that there wasn’t enough time left to implement the changes even if the state court’s decision was blocked.
The Virginia Democratic Party’s emergency request for the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene has been difficult to implement because justices typically rely on state courts to interpret state laws.
In contrast, recent Supreme Court decisions that cleared the way for Alabama and Louisiana to pursue more favorable maps were the result of the justices’ historic decisions watering down key provisions of the federal Voting Rights Act.
The April 29 decision sent Republican-controlled Southern states scrambling to take advantage of a new opportunity to eliminate majority-black U.S. House districts that have historically elected Democratic candidates.
States were already engaged in an unusual mid-decade redistricting battle that began last year when Texas lawmakers responded to pressure from President Donald Trump to redraw maps in Republican-leaning districts.
Republicans have an advantage in redistricting
Election analysts, including Kyle Kondik of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, say Republicans now have an advantage in redistricting.
But Kondik said that won’t prevent the party from losing its slim majority in the House if there is a Democratic wave this fall. Republicans still must overcome Trump’s low approval ratings and voter dissatisfaction with the economy. Additionally, the president’s party typically loses seats in midterm elections.
Still, the map Virginia Democrats wanted to use would have helped them flip four of the five state House districts currently held by Republicans and win all but one of the state’s 11 House seats.
Virginia voters approved the change in a referendum on April 21, 52% to 48%.
The referendum supported the state Legislature’s suspension of the state constitution’s redistricting rules. However, constitutional amendments must be approved by lawmakers before or after a regular election before they can be submitted to voters.
Virginia Supreme Court rejects new map
The Virginia Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that the rules were not followed because early voting for the 2025 election had already begun when the state Legislature first approved the changes on Oct. 31, 2025.
The Virginia Democratic Party argued that the decision was inconsistent with the meaning of the term “election” under federal law. Democrats said the state Supreme Court also illegally usurped the power given to state legislators by the federal constitution to regulate elections by rejecting the “plain text” of the state constitution’s election definition.
“The Virginia Supreme Court has deprived voters, candidates, and the commonwealth of their right to lawfully established congressional districts by forcing them to conduct Congressional elections using districts different from those adopted by the General Assembly pursuant to the constitutional amendment that the people just ratified,” Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones said in the filing.
Republican lawmakers who objected to the referendum said Democrats did not raise legitimate questions of federal law that a judge could decide.
“From its inception, this case concerned only state law claims and state law defenses,” the Republican lawmakers said in their Supreme Court filing.
He also claimed that State Attorney General Jones had previously said the matter needed to be resolved by May 12 in order to prepare for local elections. That means Virginia won’t be able to use maps favored by Democrats even if the Supreme Court allows it, the lawmakers said.
