Democrats push forward with 2026 redistricting efforts in Virginia
Virginia Democrats appear to be sticking to a plan to put a constitutional amendment before voters that would allow a new congressional map in 2026, despite a sweeping victory in November's general election and a fluid redistricting landscape nationwide.
In October, Democrats used their slim majorities in the House of Delegates and state Senate to pass the first step in changing Virginia's constitution, recommending an amendment that would allow the Legislature to sideline the bipartisan commission that draws Virginia's political maps.
Just a few days later, voters expanded House Speaker Don Scott's 51–49 majority to 64–36 and sent Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger to the executive mansion with a 15-percentage-point victory.
"What we were doing was not something that they saw as a negative … that Democrats are on the right track in terms of where we are in our politics, and that this is not a bad thing," Sen. Mamie Locke (D–Hampton) told VPM News between budget hearings at a November meeting of the Senate Finance Committee in Radford.
https://www.vpm.org/generalassembly/2025-12-03/vadems-redistricting-gerrymandering-surovell-locke-spanberger-mcdougle