Virginia Supreme Court Ruling Is Democracy at Work; Map Violated Virginia Constitutional Procedures

Added: 2026-05-10

[00:00:00]And Virginia's new congressional map was not passed following the proper procedures. That's what the state Supreme Court said in striking it down.

[00:00:09]Joining me to discuss our panelists Lee Neves, uh Democratic strategist, and Denise Gitsham, a former aid to former President George W. Bush. Great to have you both back with us. So, Virginia's Supreme Court has struck down the new congressional map that would have potentially netted Democrats four guaranteed additional seats in the House of Representatives. The court says the proposed map wasn't passed following the right procedures. Denise, how much does this strengthen the GOP's chances to maintain control of the House in the midterms?

[00:00:43]Well, obviously it's helpful because what Democrats in Virginia tried to do would have stripped four seats, as you said, and that would not have been great both for democracy, just for the representation, for the voice of Republicans in Virginia, which is often considered a swing state. But also, I'm so glad that this happened because this is democracy at work. When you violate your own state's constitutional procedures, you should not be allowed to move forward with a vote. It never should have gone to a vote because Democrats tried to rush a partisan map through an invalid process. It actually required a proposed constitutional amendment passed through the General Assembly twice with an intervening election between the two legislative approvals before even being put before voters. So, this was completely invalid from the start. And to say anything otherwise means that you're just simply not for enforcing uh the constitutional norms in your own state unless it works to your benefit.

[00:01:55]>> today's show and I'm very disappointed you guys aren't having me on here to talk about UFOs. That'd be a much more fun thing to talk about today. That being said, >> [laughter] >> I I mean, don't we all have them now?

[00:02:09]Yeah, that being said, you know, look, I I do agree with Denise. We should follow constitutional norms. Let's take a gander at the state of Florida, which in their constitution, it specifically says you cannot draw their lines on purely partisan political means and yet yet Florida introduced their maps on Fox News with red and blue marking which are Republican, which are which are Democrats. So, I'm looking forward to that map also being overturned. That being said, I mean, we could talk about the redistricting and who picked up what and what state. When it comes down to the game still needs to be played. And the headwinds that Republicans are facing going to the midterms aren't just regular headwinds. They're hurricane force headwinds when you look at where gasoline is at, where people feel the economy is at, not where the economic indicators say the economy is at, not where economists say the economy is at, where people feel the economy is at.

[00:03:07]People are still feeling the pinch.

[00:03:08]People are still trying to make it paycheck to paycheck. And you have a president who said he was going to fix that on day one. Republicans, they got a victory in Virginia. They've gotten victories in in Texas and and other southern states and there will be continued redistricting, but they face really really bad headwinds going in to the midterms. And you know, sometimes be careful what you wish for when it comes to this redistricting.

[00:03:33]Spoiler alert, Lee, we will be getting both of your thoughts at the end of the panel as to whether or not you guys are believers that there is other life out there.

[00:03:46]Don't worry, Lee, we will get there.

[00:03:48]Denise, I do want to get your thoughts on a post today by the California governor Gavin Newsom who was lashing out over the redistricting. He listed a variety of states gaining GOP seats and then concluding that MAGA, as he calls it, has rigged the system.

[00:04:06]You're out in California. What What's your message to anyone who sees this post by Newsom? And he's comparing these uh redistricting efforts Yeah.

[00:04:17]Well, I mean, he's clearly trying to distract from the myriad problems they've got here in my home state at being the least affordable as Lee just pointed out like every issue is about affordability for voters and we're living in the least affordable state in America when affordability is literally front and center on everybody's mind.

[00:04:32]Look, we would kill for the national gas rates that we see on TV. Everyone watching here at home is saying, "When was gas $4 a gallon?" We haven't seen that for, I don't know, since 2019. And so, we're very well aware of what Gavin and one-party Democratic rule has done to our state in Sacramento. And so, you know, just goes to show that he's a lying liar, just another politician a pot calling the kettle black when he just redistricted our state so that only 7% of the 42% of Republicans, really not even Republicans, Republicans and independents who voted for Trump in 2024 are actually going to have any representation anywhere because of the redistricting. So, cry all you want about this. When you mess with the bull, you get the horns. There were 28 states that are led by Republican legislatures and only 18 with the Democrats. So, you want to go there, we can go 10 rounds every single day and we're going to win it just on numbers alone.

[00:05:28]Lee, what say you?

[00:05:30]Um I think that post was directed directly towards Democratic primary voters in New Hampshire, Iowa, and South Carolina in 2028. Gavin Newsom is doing what as the quote-unquote Democrat frontrunner, that's what everyone puts him as, uh for president in in 2028. He is He's carrying the He's carrying the the Democratic mantle here and and he's really positioning himself to be the frontrunner in those Democratic primaries when let's, you know, and I'm sure Dennis going to agree when it comes to primary elections, it is the diehards of both parties who come out to vote in the primaries. Um as far as waiting in California, let's I also am in California. Granted, I'm not in a nice part of California. I'm in the lovely Central Valley. Um but but that being said, um >> [laughter] >> I I mean, I do like my cows. That being said, California was a direct um was a direct response to what Texas did. And And let's look at Texas's rationale. Texas's rationale was, "We're going to make this congressional uh our congressional seats look like what they should look like because everyone voted for Trump."

[00:06:41]Everyone did not vote for Trump. Before redistricting in Texas, the Republicans had 63% of the vote, but Trump got 56% in Texas. So, if it really was going to look like the 2024 election, then we'll take a couple seats back in Texas as well. We're cool with that. We could go 10 rounds on this because we could look at all the states in New England that went hard for Trump. They didn't quite get over the finish line and have had zero representation for years. And all the gerrymandered districts that the Supreme Court has shut down and Democrats >> and if if Texas wants to gerrymander after the 2030 Texas, they can gerrymander their hearts delight. And the problem that I have on on both sides on both sides, there's currently a bill in Congress to outlaw mid-decade redistricting.

[00:07:24]It probably won't get past the Senate, but I think it's it's something that we should look at cuz I don't think both sides should be doing this.

[00:07:32]Redistricting was meant for every decade, not to try to stack stack the sides on either side, Republican or Democrat, just because you think you might lose a midterm.

[00:07:44]On that we agree.

[00:07:45]>> Lee So so Lee, I the Democrats seem to be feeling pretty good until that massive Supreme Court ruling on the Louisiana case.

[00:07:56]Where do things stand right now? The GOP right now is set to potentially flip as many as 10 seats.

[00:08:03]And the Democrats will still probably win the house. You're looking at a very bad midterm for the Republicans. Is the win going to be as big as it probably would have been pre all this redistricting? No. It may be a 10-15 seat margin, but I think you're going to see a very a backlash to what is going on and and they're going to blame the party in power. And look, I've been running campaigns for 28 years and a lot of times it comes to down to the fact that people aren't happy with who is in power right now and literally the other candidate could be a wet paper bag. I've seen it on the Republican and Democrat side where either a Republican or the Democrat was the wet paper bag and they won because they weren't the other guy and you [clears throat] have a lot of that. You have a lot of that going into this midterm. It's not that and look, I'm a Democrat. It's not that people are going to be saying, "Yeah, we agree with Democrats. We're going to vote for them." It's like, "We don't like what's going on over here, so we're going to give these people a chance. They could be a pet rock for all we care."

[00:09:01]>> [laughter] >> Denise, history is is really not on the GOP's side just based on the party in power.

[00:09:10]Um Yeah. How important is it for for the the Republicans to hold the house and do you think at this point based on what you've seen unfold over the past week or two that there is a chance to defy the odds?

[00:09:28]There's always a chance, right?

[00:09:29]Democrats are at record low approvals, so are Republicans, so is Congress.

[00:09:33]Let's be clear. Nobody likes anyone in Washington right now And we do, however, remember that when Biden was in office, we had 9% inflation. So, if we want to go with back to that, we can do that, right? Like if that's what Americans wanted, they're worried about affordability, we can go back to how it was. That's the option that they have.

[00:09:50]That's the last Democrat that was in office. So, as far as Democrats and their track record on the economy, it's not great. And that's why it's shocking and horrifying to me as a Republican that when in fact we lose that issue to Democrats, which we happen to be in some of these polls, it's a really bad thing.

[00:10:06]But it really only takes, you know, a couple months before the election cycle.

[00:10:10]You know, I've been doing politics for 26 years myself. Hopefully I don't look like it, but I have been. And you know, both here in California and in Washington D.C. I ran for Congress in San Diego. And I know that what you're saying Lee is correct. It's about the two people on the ticket. But it will be about how affordability changes or hopefully it's to Republicans' favor in my opinion. Um but you know, things can change. And if things drop enough, if this war ends and those prices come back to four-year lows for gas, which is what they were right before this war, you're going to see a real change in the winds uh of fortune for Republicans.

[00:10:45]Now, Lee, I told you that we were going to get to the UFOs, and here we are. Uh I haven't had a chance myself to to dig in uh to the files. But from what I'm seeing, there are reports. Uh now, keep in mind, this isn't coming from a QAnon site. This is coming from the United States government, from the Pentagon, that there uh were reports from highly credible intel and military officers seeing 4-ft alien beings in weird spacesuits, along with you know, uh UFOs and other activity. In this grand, vast, large, endless universe, Lee, are we alone?

[00:11:25]I mean, this explains a couple of my ex-girlfriends right off the bat. Um >> [laughter] >> I I I don't think we're alone. I really don't.

[00:11:36]>> [laughter] >> I was waiting. I was waiting for that one. Um You are you are locked and loaded.

[00:11:42]I am locked and loaded today. Um I I I don't think we're alone. I I think it's hard to fathom that of all the planets in the Milky Way, we're the only one that have the perfect conditions to have living beings on it. And yeah, I think I think somewhere out there there is, you know, I don't know. Maybe Look, I was a big fan of Superman Superman the cartoon when I was a kid.

[00:12:05]And you know, there was that other planet with the Bizarro world. So, for all I know, there could be another planet with a Bizarro Lee and a Bizarro Stephen and a Bizarro Denise on it.

[00:12:16]>> [laughter] >> Denise, UFOs?

[00:12:20]>> top that? You know, how do you top that?

[00:12:22]You know, he took my line right out for me. My ex-husband, you know, must have been. That must be the answer. But, you know, I just think that there are so many weird things happening in Washington that I barely have any attention span for anyone who might be 4 ft tall. And there are times that I wish I would get beamed right up given what's happening in our country. So, especially in politics. And so, you know, if there is, I'll be fascinated to know. But, I you know, I never really worry too much.

[00:12:47]My faith in God is so strong that whatever comes my way, I know that we're going to be fine. And so, if they've been around for a long time and they haven't done any harm thus far, I welcome them to our planet. Let's go.

[00:12:58]Just let's get them registered as Republicans.

[00:13:02]>> [laughter] >> Denise, Denise get them. Great to have you both.

[00:13:06]From the party that talks about illegal illegal aliens voting, just for the record.

[00:13:11]>> [laughter] >> Touché.

[00:13:15]You're on fire, Lee. Thank you, guys.