Gerrymandering After Math

When the Virginia Supreme Court nullified the May referendum approving new congressional maps, it did not end mid-decade redistricting in Virginia. It extended it into the next legislative session where the assembly will likely vote again to draw new maps, triggering another referendum. Compared to Youngkin’s 2% margin of victory, May’s 3% suggests that voters will approve another amendment, establishing new congressional districts for 2028. After the 2030 census, Virginia’s previous anti-gerrymandering amendment would be automatically restored, triggering a flawed but bipartisan process for drawing new maps. The only way to avoid that anti-gerrymandering baseline would be an entirely new amendment introduced before early voting begins in fall of 2027. The details are complex, but the takeaway is simple: Virginia’s redistricting fight continues, but our state is sidelined in the race to gerrymander this year’s national midterm elections. Days before our Court reversed the referendum,…