With Virginia vote, Democrats get ahead of Trump’s redistricting : NPR
An election worker tears off “I Voted” stickers during the Virginia redistricting referendum at the Fairfax Government Center, Tuesday, April 21, 2026, in Fairfax, Virginia.
Julia Démarée Nikhinson/AP
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Julia Démarée Nikhinson/AP
With time running out before the midterm elections, Virginia took a step Tuesday to counter, or even surpass, President Trump’s nationwide effort to redraw the congressional voting map in favor of the GOP.
Voters narrowly approved a Democratic-backed constitutional amendment to sideline the state’s redistricting commission and allow lawmakers to directly implement a new map. Virginia’s delegation in the House of Representatives is currently made up of six Democrats and four Republicans and could reach a ratio of 10 to 1 under the new map.
The move still faces legal challenges, but could give Democrats the edge in tilting House seats — for now.
Florida lawmakers could be next. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis called for them to meet next week and consider redistricting this could favor Republicans who get more seats.
The debate in Virginia it looked a lot like what was happening in other states. Opponents said it would cause the state’s House delegation to favor Democrats far more than the proportion of Democratic and Republican voters in the state. Supporters argued that it’s not about what’s happening in the state, but about the measures Trump has pushed across the country in Republican-led states.
Redistricting splits votes and Trump pushed for advantage this fall
Redistricting occurs when states redraw district boundaries, which typically happens at the beginning of a decade when the U.S. Census determines how many seats each state has in the House of Representatives. Gerrymandering is when politicians deliberately group voters together to benefit one party or another.
Currently, Republicans control the United States House of Representatives. with only a few places more than the Democrats. But the party that controls the White House usually loses seats in midterms.
Trump pushed for redistricting in the middle of the decade and prompted Texas Republicans to draw a new map that could help them win the five seats currently held by Democrats. California Democrats have pursued a redistricting plan — with voter approval similar to Virginia’s — that counters Texas with five additional Democratic-leaning districts.
Virginia voters faced a state constitutional amendment regarding redistricting on Tuesday.
Julia Démarée Nikhinson/AP
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Julia Démarée Nikhinson/AP
Lawmakers in North Carolina and Missouri reapportioned one seat in each state to Republicans. As part of a previously scheduled shakeup, Ohio created two additional seats that lean slightly toward the GOP. All of these changes could give Republicans nine additional seats.
Thanks to Virginia’s decision, Democrats gained 10 seats across the country: five in California, four in Virginia and a court-ordered change in Utah.
Republican lawmakers participating in the redistricting debate said maintaining control of the House was important to Trump’s agenda and preventing Democrats from launching investigations into his administration. or, as Trump did said while accusing him.
Ultimately, the House race will come down to how people vote and whether parties can retain the seats they already have, as well as win new ones. A big wave in one direction or the other would make redistricting less important.
Most states that were able or willing to redistrict have made this decision.
When Trump launched his redistricting effort, it seemed that Republicans had more opportunity to redo the maps than Democrats because, among other reasons, they controlled more state legislatures.
But Republicans in Kansas and Indiana did not respond to Trump’s call. In Indiana, Republicans voted against redistricting despite Trump’s threats to support their opponents in the primaries.
A person votes in the Virginia redistricting referendum in Burke, Virginia.
Julia Démarée Nikhinson/AP
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Julia Démarée Nikhinson/AP
And Democratic efforts to redistrict Maryland were blocked by Democrats in the state Senate, where there was not enough support to bring it to a vote.
With congressional primaries underway across the country, Florida could have the last laugh. Republican Gov. DeSantis has called lawmakers back to the Capitol next week, and redistricting is one of the items on his agenda.
But after Democrats made gains in a some recent special elections in FloridaIt’s unclear whether state Republicans will want to risk making their current seats more competitive by seeking more. This can happen when a party tries to divide voters in new ways.
There is, however, another factor on the horizon. The U.S. Supreme Court is considering a case that could end up weakening the federal Voting Rights Act. While that makes it harder to go to court against racial gerrymandering — redistricting that undermines the voting power of minority communities — a few other GOP-led states could try to fast-track changes to the electoral map before the election.
