On April 21, Virginians will cast their votes on whether the General Assembly should be allowed to redraw Congressional districts before the end of the decade. But a case in the Virginia Supreme Court could render the result irrelevant.
Democrats, who control the General Assembly, are proposing a new map that would give them the advantage in 10 out of 11 districts. The proposal would push Lexington and Rockbridge County from the 6th District into the 9th. The proposed 9th District would be the only Republican stronghold, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.
According to Virginians for Fair Elections, the democratic group pushing for the approval of the amendment, if voters in the April special election approve redistricting, the General Assembly would vote on new maps that would only last until the 2030 census.
But General Assembly Republicans have challenged whether the process to push the amendment forward was constitutional. The Virginia Supreme Court will weigh in on the question after the election and could potentially overturn the result.
How did we get here?
On Oct. 27, 2025, the Virginia General Assembly held a surprise special legislative session to push through the first steps required to begin redistricting.
According to the Constitution of Virginia, the governor may call for a special session of the General Assembly when it is in the interest of the Commonwealth and two-thirds of the state legislators apply for a special session.
But General Assembly Democrats used a legislative technicality to hold the special session in October without Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s approval.
According to VPM, during the 2024 legislative season, a special session was called to finalize and pass Virginia’s two-year budget. However, after the budget passed, no vote was ever held to adjourn the special session. That allowed General Assembly Democrats to reconvene the session in October.
At the October session, the General Assembly passed a joint resolution proposing a constitutional amendment that would allow the General Assembly to redraw the lines for Congressional districts.
The General Assembly is made up of a higher house, the Senate, and a lower house, the House of Delegates. In order for a constitutional amendment to be passed, the Constitution of Virginia mandates that a majority in each house must approve the amendment twice, in two legislative sessions separated by a General Assembly election.
At the October special session, both the House of Delegates and the Senate voted to approve the constitutional amendment.
After the 2025 elections, which saw Democrats expand their majority in the House of Delegates, legislators voted for a second time along party lines to approve the amendment on Jan. 16, officially sending it to the voters in April.
If the proposed amendment receives a majority of the votes, it will become official, and the Democrat-controlled General Assembly will be able to redraw Congressional boundaries through the end of the decade.
Currently, control of who draws the Congressional districts is in the hands of an independent redistricting committee. The committee was established in November 2020 after voters approved it in a referendum with 65% of the vote, according to the Virginia Mercury.
The legal challenges begin
After the second General Assembly vote, Republican legislators filed a lawsuit in the Tazewell Circuit Court. The Republicans said that redistricting was outside the scope of the October 2025 special session.
On Jan. 27, Chief Judge Jack Hurley Jr. ruled in favor of the Republican legislators, which would have voided the election from taking place.
However, according to All About Redistricting, the Virginia Supreme Court stepped in and halted Hurley’s ruling, allowing the election to go ahead while Democrats appeal the case.
According to the Virginia Mercury, briefs for the Democrats’ appeal in the Virginia Supreme Court are not due until April 23, two days after the vote is set to take place. This means that the court could retroactively overturn the results of the referendum.
Hurley also presided over a second Tazewell County lawsuit filed by the Republican National Committee. The RNC said that the two approvals of the amendment were not separated by a General Assembly election because early voting was already in full swing for the 2025 General Assembly elections at the time of the first General Assembly vote.
On Feb. 19, Hurley again ruled with the plaintiffs and temporarily halted Tazewell County and the Virginia State Board of Elections from preparing for the special election.
But according to VPM, the Virginia Supreme County told the county to resume preparations on March 4. According to WTVR, early voting began around the commonwealth on March 6.
According to All About Redistricting, members of Congress and municipalities launched several other legal challenges, including efforts to defeat the referendum due to the language used on the ballot. Cardinal News reported that the Lynchburg Circuit Court denied a request to stop election preparations in the city.
What’s next?
Depending on how the Virginia Supreme Court case shakes out, voters still may have the final say.
Two opinion polls have been released with conflicting messages. A Christopher Newport University poll released in January showed support for redistricting at 51%, while a Roanoke College poll released in February saw support at only 44%, with 52% of respondents planning to vote against the measure.
According to his website, current 6th Congressional District Rep. Ben Cline resides in Botetourt County, which under the proposed maps would move to the 9th District along with Lexington and Rockbridge County. This would pit him against 9th District incumbent Rep. Morgan Griffith.
If the maps are approved, candidates will have four months to adapt and run in their new districts. According to the Virginia Department of Elections, the primary for all Congressional races is scheduled to take place on Aug. 4.
