RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia Democrats are taking steps to redraw the state’s U.S. House districts in hopes of boosting the party’s chances in next year’s midterm elections and countering President Donald Trump’s push to create more partisan districts in Republican-run states.
Virginia House Speaker Don Scott sent a letter to lawmakers Thursday telling them to call a special session Monday, but did not say why. The goals include redistricting Congress to win seats for Democrats, four sources with direct knowledge of the plan told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the plan publicly.
Virginia becomes the second state to have a Democratic-led legislature after california He will be participating in a nationwide redistricting battle with huge stakes at stake. If Democrats gain three more seats, they will control the House of Representatives and effectively block President Trump’s policies.
Republican lawmakers texas, missouri and north carolina He has already approved a new congressional map aimed at giving his party more seats and preserving the small Republican House majority. And even more More states are considering Districts are reorganized as the front expands.
A spokesperson for the Democratic House campaign division characterized the effort in Virginia as the party pursuing “every means available to counter the Republican Party’s desperate attempt to steal the midterm elections.”
“Virginia’s decision to retain the right to convene and consider new maps in 2026 is critical in the fight to ensure fair representation of voters,” said Courtney Rice, communications director for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
Republicans vowed to fight. Virginia House Minority Leader Terry Kilgore said Democrats missed the opportunity to implement the process by 2026, saying it is “constitutionally too late” to do so.
“We will do everything legally possible to stop this power grab,” Kilgore said.
Voting districts are typically redrawn at the beginning of every decade to account for population changes noted in the census. But over the summer, President Trump took the unusual step of encouraging Republican-led states to redistrict key districts to counter the historic trend of the president’s party losing seats in midterm elections.
Virginia currently has six Democrats and five Republicans in the House of Representatives. imposed by the court After a bipartisan redistricting commission Couldn’t agree on the map After 2020 Census.
The effort to redraw Virginia’s congressional districts comes in the final weeks before the Nov. 4 state general election and statewide elections. But Monday’s session is just the beginning of what could be a long legislative process beyond elections.
Because the Virginia State Zoning Commission Constitutional amendments approved by votersvoters must approve the change. And any proposed constitutional changes must first pass Congress in two separate sessions. Democrats are scrambling to hold the first vote of the year so they can approve a second change after the new Congress begins on Jan. 14.
Voters would need to approve changes to the constitution to allow the use of the new House map. And that vote would need to take place before the Congressional primary, currently scheduled for June 16, although such elections have been postponed in the past.
In many states, congressional districts are drawn by state legislators, subject to the approval of the governor. But North Carolina’s new maps, which received final approval from the Republican-led Legislature on Wednesday, did not need to be submitted to Democratic Gov. Josh Stein. These changes are Democratic U.S. Congressman Don Davis By adding areas with large numbers of Republican-leaning voters.
Like Virginia, California has a constitutional redistricting commission that approved maps after the 2020 census. California voters will decide whether to temporarily suspend those districts in the Nov. 4 election and instead use maps approved by the Democratic-led Legislature that could give Democrats up to five additional seats.
Revised districts in Missouri, North Carolina and Texas do not require voter approval, but opponents in Missouri are gathering petition signatures to force a statewide vote on the new maps.
___
Reeve reported from Jefferson City, Missouri. Associated Press writers Leah Askarinum in Washington and Steve Peoples in New York contributed to this report.
___
Diaz is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
