Virginia Democrats One Step Closer to Gerrymandering Maps for Four Additional Congressional Seats

By Sam Barron | Friday, 16 January 2026 05:54 PM EST

Virginia Democrats are one step closer to gerrymandering the state’s congressional maps that could give them four additional seats in the midterm elections.

The Virginia State Senate approved a constitutional amendment on party lines this week to allow lawmakers to begin redrawing the state’s congressional boundaries. The House of Delegates had previously passed the bill by a vote of 62-33, and it will now go to voters for approval in a spring special election.

Democratic control of all state government levers is expected after Abigail Spanberger is sworn in as governor Saturday.

Democrats have argued that the move is necessary to keep pace with red states like Texas, which recently redrew its own congressional maps to be more favorable to Republicans.

State Senator Mark Peake, a Republican, condemned the effort as a blatant power grab. “Because you hate the man that’s in the White House, and that’s really the only thing that’s behind this … you want to blunt his power, then [Democrats] are going to politically gerrymander and take away the rights of the people,” Peake said.

Republican strategist Michael Young stated that Virginia Democrats “broke the law and violated the Virginia Constitution to get this far.” He added, “We will fight them in any available venue if they continue to pursue this lawless power grab.”

Currently, Virginia has six Democratic and five Republican representatives in Congress. Two maps have been presented to lawmakers: one would give Democrats a majority in nine seats while protecting Republican Representatives Ben Cline and Morgan Griffith; the other would provide Democrats an edge in 10 seats, also safeguarding Griffith.

A special election is likely to be held in April.

Additionally, voters will decide in the same ballot whether to remove Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriage, codify access to abortion, and restore voting rights for individuals with felony convictions who are no longer incarcerated.

Redistricting typically occurs at the start of each decade using new census data. Last summer, Texas redrew its congressional maps to help Republicans gain five seats in Congress, while California voters approved a map that could give Democrats an additional five seats. North Carolina and Ohio have also redrawn their maps to boost Republican representation, and efforts stalled in Kansas and Indiana.

Maryland is considering similar redistricting measures to potentially give Democrats an extra seat in the House of Representatives.