Virginia Supreme Court strikes down Democrats' redistricting plan
The Virginia Supreme Court struck down the Democrats' redistricting plan, overturning new congressional maps and dealing a blow to their midterm election hopes. Former President Donald Trump and former Governor Glenn Youngkin laud the ruling as a major victory.
Democrats exploded in fury Friday after the Virginia Supreme Court struck down a party-backed redistricting map central to their midterm election strategy, and at least one prominent leftist voice went as far as calling a violent revolution "inevitable."
In a 4-3 decision, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled that a voter-approved map, which would give Democrats a 10-1 advantage in U.S. House races, violated the state's constitution because of procedural errors in the map’s passage. Virginia voters will cast ballots in the 2026 midterms using the same district maps from the 2022 and 2024 elections, with which Democrats currently hold a 6-5 edge.
But Democratic lawmakers and commentators have framed the Supreme Court's ruling as an act going against the will of the people. Hasan Piker, a popular leftist streamer who has espoused antisemitic rhetoric and campaigns with congressional candidates, accused the Virginia Supreme Court of denying the results of the state's redistricting referendum.
"Scotus gutted the voting rights act and tennessee carved up the last dem district destroying black voter power in the state," Piker wrote on X. "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable."
VIRGINIA’S MAP WAR LAYS BARE STATE'S SHARP PARTISAN TURN AS LEGAL FIGHT LOOMS
Michigan Democratic Senate candidates have splintered over controversial online streamer Hasan Piker with Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., and State Sen. Mallory McMorrow, D-Mich., criticizing candidate Abdul El-Sayed for campaigning with him. (Noushad Thekkayil/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., suggested Democrats won their redrawn map fair and square by holding a statewide election.
"Unlike Republican-led states that have redrawn their maps through backroom deals, the Virginia General Assembly let the people decide for themselves in a free and fair election," Kaine said in a statement.
"If the Virginia Supreme Court had legitimate concerns about this referendum, the time to stop it would have been before 3 million Virginians cast their ballots.
TRUMP URGES VIRGINIA VOTERS TO REJECT 'BLATANT PARTISAN POWER GRAB' BY DEMOCRATS
Signs urge early voters to vote yes or no on the Virginia redistricting referendum at the Ellen M. Bozman Government Center in Arlington, Va., March 31, 2026. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
"But the Court let the process move forward, and Virginians sent a message loud and clear: We see President Trump’s brazen power grab in states across the country, and we won’t stand for it."
Kaine also echoed Piker's sentiment that the ruling "eviscerates" the Voting Rights Act.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said Democrats are "exploring all options" to fight back against Virginia's high court's ruling.
BLOCKBUSTER SUPREME COURT VOTING RIGHTS RULING IGNITES REDISTRICTING WAR ACROSS SOUTHERN STATES
"The decision to overturn an entire election is an unprecedented and undemocratic action that cannot stand," Jeffries said in a statement.
"MAGA Republicans have adopted voter suppression as a strategy, as also evidenced by far-right extremists on the Supreme Court gutting the Voting Rights Act to open the door to a Jim Crow-like attack on Black representation across the American South."
Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates Don Scott took a more pragmatic approach, saying he respects the high court's ruling.
"We respect the court. But we will keep fighting for a democracy where voters — not politicians — have the final say. Because in Virginia, power still belongs to the people."
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., speaks to reporters as he walks into the Senate chamber in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 11, 2025. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
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While Democrats described the Virginia Supreme Court's ruling as a violation of the Voting Rights Act, Republican National Committee Chairman Joe Gruters, who spearheaded the lawsuit over the maps, said Virginia's ruling was not based on politics but on the "rule of law."
"Democrats just learned that when you try to rig elections, you lose," said Chairman Gruters. "The RNC led the charge in court against this blatant power grab, where Virginia Democrats poured more than $66 million into an effort to lock in control and silence voters. We took them to court, and we won."
