The Virginia Supreme Court on Friday struck down a voter-approved Democratic congressional redistricting plan, delivering another major setback to the party in a nationwide battle against Republicans for an edge in this year’s midterm elections.
The court that the state’s Democratic-led legislature violated procedural requirements when it placed the constitutional amendment on the ballot to authorize mid-decade redistricting. Voters the amendment on April 21, but the court’s ruling renders the vote鈥檚 result meaningless.
Writing for the majority, Justice D. Arthur Kelsey wrote that the legislature submitted the proposed constitutional amendment to voters 鈥渋n an unprecedented manner.鈥�
鈥淭his violation irreparably undermines the integrity of the resulting referendum vote and renders it null and void,鈥� he wrote.
Democrats had hoped to win as many as four additional U.S. House seats under Virginia’s redrawn map as part of an attempt to offset Republican done elsewhere at the urging of President Donald Trump. Later Friday, Virginia Democrats said in a filing that they intended to file an emergency appeal of the state high court’s decision with the U.S. Supreme Court.
Friday’s ruling, combined with a recent that severely weakened the Voting Rights Act, has supercharged Republicans’ congressional gerrymandering advantage heading into this year’s midterm elections.
鈥淗uge win for the Republican Party, and America, in Virginia,鈥� Trump said about the decision on his social media account.
Richard Hudson, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said the ruling was another sign of GOP momentum heading into the midterms.
鈥淲e鈥檙e on offense, and we鈥檙e going to win,鈥� he said in a statement.
Don Scott, the Democratic speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, said Democrats respect the court鈥檚 opinion but lamented that it overturned the will of the voters: 鈥淭hey voted YES because they wanted to fight back against the Trump power grab.鈥�
Suzan DelBene, chairwoman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, criticized the court majority for what she said was a decision that 鈥渃ast aside the will of the voters,鈥� but she said the people will have the final say.
鈥淚n November, they will, and they鈥檒l power Democrats to the House majority,鈥� she said in a statement.
A longshot Democratic appeal
Democrats are taking a legal longshot in asking the nation鈥檚 highest court to reverse the Virginia ruling. The U.S. Supreme Court tries to avoid second-guessing state courts鈥� interpretations of their own constitutions. In 2023, it turned down to overrule a state Supreme Court decision that blocked the GOP鈥檚 congressional map.
Still, even an unsuccessful appeal would let Democrats try to blame their failure on the conservative majority that dominates the nation’s highest court, which has already infuriated the party and civil rights groups by neutering .
Legislative voting districts typically are redrawn once a decade after each census to account for population changes. But Trump sparked an unusual flurry of mid-decade redistricting last year by in Texas to redraw districts in a bid to win several additional U.S. House seats and hold on to their party’s narrow majority in the midterm elections.
California responded with drawn to Democrats’ advantage, and Utah’s top court imposed a new congressional map that also helps Democrats. Meanwhile, Republicans stand to gain from new House districts passed in Florida, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio and . They could add even more after the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in the Voting Rights Act case, which has prompted to consider redrawing in time for this year鈥檚 elections.
Virginia is currently represented in the U.S. House by six Democrats and five Republicans, all elected from districts imposed by a court following a bipartisan redistricting commission鈥檚 failure to agree on a map after the 2020 census. The new districts could have given Democrats an improved chance to win all but one of the state’s 11 congressional seats.
The state Supreme Court’s majority was critical of the state鈥檚 redrawing of the congressional maps to benefit one political party. Those justices noted that 47% of the state鈥檚 voters supported GOP congressional candidates in 2024, but the new map could result in Democrats making up 91% of the state鈥檚 House delegation.
What was in the Democrats’ map
Under the Democratic-drawn map, five districts would have been anchored in the Democratic stronghold of northern Virginia. Revisions to four other districts across Richmond, southern Virginia and Hampton Roads would have diluted the voting power of conservative blocs in those areas. And a reshaped district in parts of western Virginia would have lumped together three Democratic-leaning college towns to offset other Republican voters.
The state Supreme Court鈥檚 seven justices are appointed by the state legislature, which has toggled back and forth between Democratic, Republican and split control over recent years. Legal experts say the body doesn鈥檛 have a set ideological profile.
The case before the court focused not on the shape of the new districts but rather on the process the General Assembly used to authorize them.
Because the state鈥檚 redistricting commission was established by a voter-approved constitutional amendment, lawmakers had to propose an amendment to redraw the districts. That required approval of a resolution in two separate legislative sessions, with a state election sandwiched in between, to place the amendment on the ballot.
The legislature鈥檚 initial approval of the amendment occurred last October, during early voting for the general election, before it concluded. The legislature鈥檚 occurred after a new legislative session began in January. Lawmakers also in February laying out the new districts, subject to voter approval of the constitutional amendment.
Arguments over the definition of 鈥榚lection鈥�
focused on whether the legislature鈥檚 initial approval of the amendment came too late, because early voting already had begun.
Attorney Matthew Seligman, who defended the legislature, argued that the 鈥渆lection鈥� should be defined narrowly to mean the Tuesday of the general election. In that case, the legislature鈥檚 first vote on the redistricting amendment occurred before the election and was constitutional, he told judges.
But in its ruling, the Supreme Court said, 鈥渢his view appears to be wholly unprecedented in Virginia鈥檚 history.鈥�
An attorney for the plaintiffs, Thomas McCarthy, argued an 鈥渆lection鈥� should be interpreted to cover the entire period during which voters can cast ballots, which lasts several weeks in Virginia. If that鈥檚 the case, he told justices, then the legislature鈥檚 initial endorsement of the redistricting amendment came too late to comply with the state constitution.
The Supreme Court agreed with that argument, writing: 鈥淭he General Assembly passed the proposed constitutional amendment for the first time well after voters had begun casting ballots during the 2025 general election.鈥�
By the time lawmakers initially endorsed the amendment, voters already had cast more than 1.3 million ballots in the general election, about 40% of the total votes ultimately cast, the court said.
The Supreme Court鈥檚 ruling affirms a decision by a judge in rural Tazewell County, in southwestern Virginia. The court had placed a hold on that ruling and allowed the redistricting vote to proceed before hearing arguments on the case.
In the dissent to Friday’s ruling, Chief Justice Cleo Powell said the election for the purpose of considering the amendment does not include the early voting period.
鈥淭he majority鈥檚 definition creates an infinite voting loop that appears to have no established beginning,鈥� she wrote, 鈥渙nly a definitive end: Election Day.鈥�
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