Virginia House speaker, Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, left, greets State Sen., Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, prior to the State of the Commonwealth address before a joint session of the Virginia General Assembly at the Capitol, Monday Jan. 13, 2025 in Richmond, Va. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
Virginia voters will head to the polls starting Friday to weigh in on a plan to redraw the state’s congressional map in response to GOP gerrymanders in other states after a court ruled* that election preparations can move forward.
The decision Monday represents another victory for state Democratic leaders’ efforts to push back against President Donald Trump’s attempts to rig the 2026 midterm elections.
On Feb. 25, the City of Lynchburg filed a lawsuit in state court seeking clarification on whether to prepare for the election after a Feb. 19 temporary restraining order issued by another state court blocked the election from proceeding.
However, a judge dismissed the complaint for a lack of jurisdiction.
Although Monday’s ruling means the redistricting vote will take place, it is not the end of the legal saga.
Tim Anderson, an attorney representing Lynchburg, said Monday that the constitutional questions in the case will continue to be litigated. “But for now, the election proceeds,” he wrote.
The Republican National Lawyers Association also commented on the ruling, saying that it was now “up to the voters of Virginia” to defeat redistricting and urging them to participate in the election.
The Virginia Supreme Court decided Feb. 13 that the state could hold the special election. Days after that decision, the GOP filed two lawsuits – one targeting the same issues discussed in the state Supreme Court ruling and the other challenging allegedly misleading proposed ballot language for the election.
If enacted, Virginia Democrats’ proposed “10-1” map could deliver four more Democratic seats in Congress. That would help counter Trump’s unprecedented mid-decade gerrymanders in GOP-controlled states, including Texas, North Carolina and Missouri. Florida Republicans are also set to begin their own redistricting special legislative session in April.
*Defendant-intervenors are represented in the lawsuit by the Elias Law Group (ELG). ELG Chair Marc Elias is the founder of Democracy Docket.
