The state’s Democratic leaders asked the high court to intervene after the Virginia Supreme Court blocked the publication of new maps favoring Democrats.
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 – Virginia is the latest state to ask the Supreme Court for emergency help to change its congressional maps before the fall elections.
Democratic leaders in the state Legislature asked the high court to intervene on May 11 after the state Supreme Court last week struck down a voter-approved measure that allowed lawmakers to draw maps that favor Democrats.
A state court ruled the new map is illegal because lawmakers failed to follow proper procedures when proposing an amendment to the state constitution.
The Virginia Democratic Party asked the high court to put the ruling on hold.
“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.
Democrats relied on redistricting efforts to counter map changes in other states that favored Republicans.
The unusual election-year battle to draw new maps ahead of the decennial census mandate began in Texas, where state lawmakers responded to President Donald Trump’s request to rearrange the maps.
This effort was further strengthened by the Supreme Court’s April 29 decision weakening Voting Rights Act protections for minorities.
The state of Louisiana, which is at the heart of the decision, successfully asked a judge this month to expedite the final decision to give it time to draw new maps favorable to Republicans.
And in Alabama, a court filing is pending that would clear the way for the state to use maps that exclude Democratic-majority black districts.
In its latest request, Virginia argues that the state Supreme Court misread federal election law in blocking the new maps and also rejected the plain text of the state constitution’s election definition.
“Each violation is sufficient for this court to reverse the judgment below,” the state Democratic Party wrote in its appeal.
Steve Vladeck, a Georgetown University law professor who writes about the court for Substack, predicted Monday that such an appeal would be unlikely to persuade the Supreme Court to intervene.
The court gave Republicans, who objected to Virginia’s new map, to respond to Democrats’ appeal by May 14.
