Virginia Democrats expect to release proposed new congressional map this week [View all]
Source: Politico
02/05/2026 01:07 PM EST
Virginia Democrats plan to release a proposed new congressional map this week that, if approved by voters, could net the party four additional seats in Congress. The effort comes as a legal fight over the redistricting push plays out in state courts, with the Virginia Supreme Court receiving the case on Wednesday.
“Donald Trump knows he’s going to lose the midterms. He knows it. That’s why he’s started this mess in the first place,” L. Louise Lucas, a top Democrat in the Virginia Senate said Thursday morning at a brief media availability with reporters in Richmond. “We said 10-1, and we meant it.” Democrats vowed to release the proposed map sometime Thursday or by early Friday.
Virginia Democrats’ effort comes after a Tazewell County judge halted Democrats from moving forward, siding with Republicans who claim state lawmakers did not follow the law when they kickstarted the redistricting effort in October. The state Supreme Court is expected to weigh in on the legal challenge that Democrats violated state procedure.
The pending map release comes as national Democrats view Virginia as their biggest prize in the reapportionment battle with Republicans that got underway in July, when Texas carved out five new Republican-friendly districts in hopes of keeping the House under GOP control following this fall’s elections.
Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/05/virginia-congressional-map-redistricting-00767226
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