Virginia judge rules against Democrats' redistricting push

Michael Macagnone, CQ-Roll Call on Jan 27, 2026

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WASHINGTON — A Virginia judge sided Tuesday with Republican state lawmakers who challenged the commonwealth’s mid-decade redistricting process, in a ruling that voids a resolution Democrats passed in a push for a new congressional map for November’s elections.

Judge Jack Hurley Jr. of the Circuit Court of Tazewell County found that the legislature broke its own rules when it started the referendum process during a special session last year, and that the process did not follow state law when it comes to amending the Virginia Constitution.

The ruling will likely be appealed. It comes days after the Virginia Senate approved a constitutional amendment allowing for mid-decade redistricting, making way for a special election to let voters weigh in as soon as this spring, before the commonwealth’s June 16 primaries.

Virginia House of Delegates Speaker Don Scott on social media said that “we always knew this would be a fight” and vowed to appeal.

“Republicans who can’t win at the ballot box are abusing the courts to sow confusion and block Virginians from voting. We will appeal immediately, and we expect to prevail. Voters — not politicians — will have the final say,” Scott said.

Hurley wrote that Democrats in the legislature passed the redistricting referendum at the end of a special session called by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, which was an “invalid expansion” of the special session, according to copies of the court ruling posted by Virginia Scope and other media outlets.

“Certainly, both houses of the Commonwealth’s legislature are required to follow their own rules and resolutions,” Hurley wrote. “This blatant abuse of power by a majority IGNORES their own rules and resolutions thereby trampling ANY and ALL procedural rights of the minority.”

Separately, Hurley also found that the legislature’s passage of the joint resolution starting the redistricting process did not happen before the 2025 elections, since it occurred after early voting started in September. Because of that, Hurley wrote, redistricting could not begin until 2027 at the earliest.

Democrats currently hold six of the state’s 11 House seats. The new map would target several of the seats held by the GOP. Some Virginia Democrats have been pushing for a map that could give their party 10 House seats, while others have pushed for a less aggressive 9-2 balance.

The redistricting battle across the country ratcheted up last year after the Texas Legislature passed a map targeting five Democrat-held seats following pressure from President Donald Trump. California soon followed with a voter-passed map that targeted five Republican-held seats.

Lawmakers in North Carolina and Missouri followed as well. Courts in Utah and Ohio ordered the states to draw new maps there.

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