Virginia Democrats Abandon Bid to Restore 4 House Seats as May 12 Deadline Blocks Court End Run
Updated
Updated · The New Republic · May 11
Virginia Democrats Abandon Bid to Restore 4 House Seats as May 12 Deadline Blocks Court End Run
5 articles · Updated · The New Republic · May 11
Top Virginia Democrats decided not to pursue a plan to remake the state Supreme Court and rehear last week’s redistricting case, effectively giving up a path to recover four House seats.
A May 12 state elections deadline made the maneuver impractical, Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell said, because aging voting-system technology leaves too little time to load new districts before August 1 primaries and mid-June early voting.
Surovell also called wiping out the entire court an extreme response, though Democrats had discussed the idea with House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries and Governor Abigail Spanberger after the ruling erased gains from last month’s referendum.
The setback tightens Democrats’ House math this fall: analysts say they may now need to win the national House vote by nearly 3 points, or about 4 points under harsher GOP gerrymandering scenarios.
Virginia Democrats still plan to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, but Surovell said any favorable ruling is unlikely to affect the 2026 cycle; redistricting again in 2027 could matter for 2028.
How will a recent Supreme Court ruling change the way states draw their future electoral maps?
What happens when a voter-approved referendum is nullified by a court over a procedural timing dispute?