BREAKING: Dem's redistricting map struck down by Virginia Supreme Court

Added: 2026-05-11

[00:00:01]Virginia's Supreme Court has struck down a map that would have given Democrats possible gains of four seats in Congress. President Trump now claiming victory, posting on True Social. Huge win for the Republican party and America in Virginia. Here to break it all down is legal affairs reporter for the Hill, Zack Shfeld. Zach, thank you so much for joining us. What did the state Supreme Court say in this ruling?

[00:00:24]>> Hey, Judy. This is a case that was all about timing. The Virginia Supreme Court ruled 4 to3 that Democrats did not follow the proper procedures in this redistricting push. In order to get this new map across the finish line, it required Democrats to actually amend the state's constitution. And there's pretty strict rules in Virginia's constitution about how that can be done. It requires state lawmakers to take two votes in two separate legislative sessions with an intervening election in between. So in this case, Democrats took that first vote on Halloween of last year, October 31st. And their argument was that they were following the process because at that point, election day was still just about a week away. And so they said that counted as the first vote. They could take that second vote uh and get it imp passed in time for the midterms. But this decision today says that the fact that early voting was open by that point on October 31st of last year means that it was too late. They said that intervening election had begun on the first day of early voting and so and that is enough to say that this referendum cannot stand. You compare that to the dissenters three judges in descent. They said the majority was broadening the definition of an election. And at one point in their opinion, Judy, they actually called it, they said an infinite loop is how they describe now the test uh of the majority today.

[00:01:45]>> Zack, is this a dead end for Virginia Democrats or can they appeal this further? Is there a chance this goes to the Supreme Court?

[00:01:53]Well, so the US Supreme Court does not have authority to interpret state constitutional provisions. The US Supreme Court, it can hear appeals from state top courts, but it's only when the US Supreme Court and the justices need to interpret some federal issue that has come up in the case. And so when you think about this case in Virginia, it's a case that really at its core is about what does the Virginia Constitution say and some of those procedural rules uh for how it can be amended. Uh and so it really is a a state case and that's why the Virginia Supreme Court we've been looking at so closely because it really is the ballgame here. Uh so I will say even in just these first few moments following the ruling, some of the statements uh that we're hearing from Virginia Democrats at this hour, they're expressing disappointment. But the other sentiment comes across is none of these statements are saying, you know, we're vowing to appeal to the US Supreme Court. The reactions that we're hearing from Democrats at this hour uh is almost is acknowledging that this effort has been defeated.

[00:02:50]>> Zack, as you know, we're seeing a bunch of states starting to redistrict after the US Supreme Court struck down Louisiana's map last week. What state should we be looking out for next?

[00:03:01]Yeah, you know, Virginia has been in a little bit of a different bucket since this is a state a case that really has had nothing to do with the Voting Rights Act or that blockbuster decision last week. But Judy, as you just alluded to, that the timing here is coming right as all of those other states are in fact responding to the Supreme Court's 6 to3 decision last week. That was a case that involved Louisiana. So, we're watching Louisiana very closely. Republicans there are hoping to redraw their map.

[00:03:27]They've already delayed their state's primary. But just to list off some of the other states that we've been watching, uh we've been watching Florida. Florida Republicans just a few days ago passed a new map very quickly.

[00:03:38]There have been lawsuits filed there under Florida's constitution, different constitution. We're watching cases there. We're also now seeing cases pop up in Tennessee where Republicans there have moved to pass a new map following the Supreme Court's decision. So, still a lot of other states out there. And just to throw one more out there, we're also watching in Alabama where Republicans are hoping to remove their second majority black district. So, the story may be settling a little bit in Virginia, but make no mistake, in many of these other states, there's still some big questions out there.

[00:04:05]>> Certainly not over. What does this all mean for control of Congress in the midterms? Zach, >> I I really think that, you know, this redistricting story, you know, we thought maybe a few months ago maybe it would be starting to wrap up as states get into these primaries and things starting to get locked in. But I think you've seen from that Supreme Court ruling last week, Judy, that it has really created a whole new wave of litigation as as parties hope to redraw their maps and race against the clock doing so before the midterms. But even, you know, even if if courts say, "Okay, it's too late for the midterms." You know, there's also, of course, just the questions of future election cycles where we know that groups on both sides of this issue have been bracing for the future of maps all over with dozens of these majority minority districts all across the country. uh that could now be the subject of litigation following this major voting rights act decision from the Supreme Court.

[00:04:55]>> All right, Zach Shonfeld breaking it all down for us. Thanks so much, Zach.

[00:05:00]>> Thank you.