In a strategic move to enhance their prospects in the upcoming midterm elections, Virginia Democrats are embarking on an effort to redraw the state’s U.S. House districts. This initiative is aimed at bolstering their party’s influence as they respond to former President Donald Trump’s endeavors to solidify more partisan districts in states governed by Republicans.

Virginia is poised to become the second state with a Democratic-led legislature, following California, to engage in the high-stakes national redistricting conflict. The outcome of this battle could be pivotal; a gain of just three seats would enable Democrats to seize control of the House, thereby challenging Trump’s legislative agenda.

Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers in states like Texas, Missouri, and North Carolina have already passed new congressional maps designed to augment their party’s chances and secure their narrow majority in the House. This redistricting saga is expanding as more states contemplate similar actions.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has expressed support for Virginia’s initiative. A spokesperson for the committee described the state’s redistricting efforts as a critical response to what they view as Republican attempts to unduly influence the midterms.

“Virginia’s decision to convene and preserve the right to consider a new map in 2026 is critical in the fight to ensure voters have fair representation,” emphasized Courtney Rice, the communications director for the committee. Her statement underscores the significance of these efforts in securing equitable voter representation.

Republicans vowed to fight. Virginia House Minority Leader Terry Kilgore said Democrats missed their opportunity to carry out this procedure by 2026 and that it’s “too late constitutionally” to do so.

“We are going to do everything legally we can do to stop this power grab,” Kilgore said.

Voting districts typically are redrawn at the start of each decade to account for population changes noted by the census. But Trump took the unusual step over the summer of urging Republican-led states to reshape key districts to try to buck a historical trend of a president’s party losing seats in midterm elections.

Virginia currently is represented in the U.S. House by six Democrats and five Republicans who ran in districts whose boundaries were imposed by a court after a bipartisan redistricting commission failed to agree on a map after the 2020 census.

The effort to redraw Virginia’s congressional districts comes in the final weeks before the Nov. 4 state legislative and statewide elections. But Monday’s session is just the start of what could be a long legislative process, running past the election.

Because Virginia’s redistricting commission was established by a voter-approved constitutional amendment, the electorate must sign off on any changes. And any proposed change to the constitution must first pass the legislature in two separate sessions. Democrats are scrambling to hold that first vote this year, so that they can approve the change a second time after a new legislative session begins Jan. 14.

Voters still would have to approve a change in the constitution to allow using the new House map. And that vote would need to occur before congressional primaries, which are currently set for June 16 — though dates for such elections have been pushed back in the past.

In many states, congressional districts are drawn by state lawmakers, subject to the approval of the governor. But North Carolina’s new map, which received final approval Wednesday from the Republican-led Legislature, did not have to go to Democratic Gov. Josh Stein. Those changes target a swing district held by Democratic U.S. Rep. Don Davis by adding areas that contain more Republican-leaning voters.

Like Virginia, California has a constitutionally established redistricting commission, which approved maps after the 2020 census. California voters are to decide in a Nov. 4 election whether to temporarily suspend those districts and instead use a map approved by the Democratic-led Legislature that could help Democrats pick up as many as five additional seats.

No voter approval is necessary for the revised districts in Missouri, North Carolina or Texas, though opponents in Missouri are gathering petition signatures to try to force a statewide vote on their new map.

___

___