Virginia Supreme Court Strikes Down Democratic Redistricting Plan Ahead of Midterms

The Virginia Supreme Court has struck down a voter-approved Democratic congressional redistricting plan, keeping the state’s current U.S. House map in place for the 2026 elections.

In a 4-3 ruling, the court said Virginia lawmakers violated the state constitution’s amendment process by advancing the redistricting proposal after early voting had already begun in the prior House of Delegates election. The majority said the violation made the referendum “null and void,” leaving the court-drawn 2021 map as the governing map.

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The decision is a major setback for Democrats, who hoped the new map could help them compete for as many as four additional House seats.

The ruling also lands in a broader national redistricting fight. A recent U.S. Supreme Court Voting Rights Act decision has given Republican-led states more room to pursue new maps, while Virginia’s state court has now blocked a Democratic countermeasure on procedural grounds.

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