Heciel Nieves Bonilla, News Editor
Virginia Democrats have released their proposed congressional district map for the mid-decade redistricting that will go to voters in a referendum later this year.
The map secures a likely 10-1 Democratic majority in the U.S. House of Representatives — the most drastic shift in representation per-capita of any state engaging in mid-decade redistricting, according to Cardinal News — and splits the city of Richmond into two separate districts.
State Democrats revealed the proposed map on Feb. 5, and was spurred by redistricting done by Republicans in Texas which diluted and removed Democratic seats, spurring a race to counter potential losses in red states with similar moves by Democrats in states like California and Maryland.
During the press conference announcing the maps, state Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, compared the redistricting effort to Trump’s attempt to secure a midterm victory.
“That’s why he [Trump] started this mess in the first place,” Lucas said. “These are not ordinary times and Virginia will not sit on the sidelines while it happens.”
Lucas has been at the forefront of district-drawing which unduly helps or hurts a political or racial group — a practice known as gerrymandering — in the past. She narrowly lost a congressional election in 2001 after Virginia Republicans moved her home city of Portsmouth into the district of the state’s only Black representative at the time, Rep. Bobby Scott, according to the Washington Post.
Lucas told The CT that she hopes the “power grab” by the White House and ensuing battle in the states over democratic procedures will incentivize students to get involved in politics by contacting legislators, keeping up with issues and eventually running for office.
“It’s to the extent that we get younger people involved and stay involved that we’re going to be able to continue to keep our democracy intact,” Lucas said. “I think it’s extremely important.”
The Virginia map largely preserves a Voting Rights Act district in the Hampton Roads area but dramatically changes many of the rest.
Currently, the City of Richmond is represented in Congress by Democratic Rep. Jennifer McClellan, Va-04. Under the new map, parts of West and South Richmond would instead be in Va-05, currently represented by Republican John McGuire.
Much of Henrico, Hanover and the western areas of metro Richmond are currently represented by Republican Rep. Rob Wittman, Va-01. Wittman’s district would now be made far bluer by including much of the I-95 corridor in Northern Virginia, and those western areas would be split between Va-05 and Va-07, which also includes parts of Northern Virginia.
All three districts would be expected to go blue if Democrats maintain their numbers. The result, barring Democratic underperformance, would be a metro Richmond entirely represented by Democrats in Congress.
The referendum to approve the redistricting is set for on April 21, despite a legal challenge brought by Tazewell Circuit Court judge Jack Hurley Jr. over procedural issues.
Constitutional amendments need to pass the General Assembly twice before going to voters, and the first must happen before a House of Delegates election. Hurley argued that state Democrats broke procedure by initially approving the redistricting during the early-voting period of last year’s general election, and that the matter was improperly added to the assembly’s business.
On Feb. 13, Virginia’s Supreme Court allowed the referendum to continue while they work towards a final ruling on its constitutionality, according to Cardinal News.
VCU political science associate professor Alex Keena said it’s “hard to say” what the chances are of the referendum map becoming reality in light of the GOP lawsuit. Voters could reject the move in the referendum or approve it only for the courts to kill the plan, both of which would mean political defeat for state Democrats.
Keena is critical of the move by Virginia Democrats as a “strategic blunder” and stated it does not come with solutions to the deeper, procedural problems with U.S. democracy.
“So far I haven’t yet seen any specific pledges to make democratic reforms under a Democratic Congress next year,” Keena stated.
Keena also criticized the move for disrupting the primary process and making it harder in the immediate term for younger, lesser-financed primary candidates to succeed.
U.S. House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York, said the national Democratic party is willing to do “whatever it takes” in Virginia to ensure the measure goes through in an appearance on CNN’s State of The Union program. This includes being willing to spend “10s of millions,” according to Jeffries.