Virginia 2025 Redistricting Amendment
Virginia 2025 Redistricting Amendment — Controversial constitutional amendment pushed through by Virginia Democrats to enable partisan redistricting of congressional maps.
Summary
In October 2025, with early voting already underway for the November elections, Virginia Democrats introduced and fast-tracked a constitutional amendment (HJ 6007) that would allow the General Assembly to redraw congressional districts — bypassing the bipartisan redistricting commission established by a 2020 constitutional amendment that voters approved with 66% support.
Timeline
- October 24, 2025: House Majority Leader Charniele Herring introduced a resolution for a special session to consider redistricting amendments
- October 27, 2025: House of Delegates agreed 50-42
- October 28, 2025: Four Democratic delegates introduced the constitutional amendment
- October 29, 2025: State Senate agreed 17-21 (later revised/re-voted)
- January 2026: Amendment re-approved by new legislature, sent to spring 2026 referendum
- February 2026: Virginia Supreme Court allows redistricting special election to move forward
- February 2026: AG Jay Jones petitions to intervene in redistricting lawsuit
Controversy
- The amendment was introduced and passed while hundreds of thousands of votes had already been cast in early voting
- Critics called it an "unconstitutional power grab" designed to create a 10-1 or 9-2 Democratic congressional map
- Republicans argued it violated the spirit of the 2020 bipartisan commission amendment that voters overwhelmingly approved
- The proposed maps would give Democrats up to 91% of Virginia's U.S. House seats with approximately 51% of the vote
Christian Heiens Analysis
Political commentator Christian Heiens noted that "there is precisely one legal argument that could save us from political armageddon in Virginia" — that Democrats missed the deadline since early voting was already underway. He was widely cited by Townhall and PJ Media.
Sources
- Wikipedia: 2026 Virginia Redistricting Amendment
- Maryland Matters: Va. Democrats roll out redistricting amendment
- VPM: Virginia Senate votes to propose redistricting amendment
- NBC News: Virginia Supreme Court allows redistricting special election
- Fox News: Virginia redistricting battleground
- Townhall: Just How Panicked Are Virginia Democrats?
- @AndrewCFollett on court blocking gerrymandering