It’s not just navy blue California. Democrats in Virginia, a light-blue-shading-into-purple state, are ignoring norms, niceties, and their party’s (at least at the national level) typical caution and ineptitude and trying to pull off a complicated plan that could give the party up to four more U.S. House seats in the Old Dominion. Feisty, bold, nakedly partisan—more of this, please, Democrats. This is what saving democracy will actually require.
Virginia a few years ago passed a constitutional amendment to ensure that U.S. House and state legislative districts there are drawn by an independent commission. That was part of a laudable effort by Democrats across the country to reduce gerrymandering, a terrible practice that usually results in one party’s voters getting far less representation in government than they deserve (and we know which party that usually ends up being).
But embracing fair maps has ended up making Democrats look like chumps. Republicans have kept super-gerrymandering the states they control. And ahead of the 2026 midterms, Republicans are going even further. Redistricting usually happens every 10 years. That is stipulated in the Constitution. But President Trump is demanding that lawmakers in GOP-dominated states across the country further gerrymander their states in the middle of the 2020s, in a desperate attempt to avoid losing the House because of the president’s deep unpopularity.
And the U.S. Supreme Court’s six Republican hacks also appear to be in on the scheme of keeping GOP control of the House by any means necessary. The court seems poised to continue its hatcheting of the Voting Rights Act, by ruling that states in the South don’t have to create any majority-Black districts. That would likely allow the GOP to gain virtually every seat in states like Alabama.
Democrats are trying to catch up. In California, they created a ballot measure likely to pass next week that will replace an independent commission with districts drawn by Democrats, thereby maximizing the party’s seats in the Golden State. They are attempting a similar move in Virginia, but it’s even more complicated there. To change the state’s constitution, lawmakers in Virginia must hold an initial vote and then a second one after a statewide election has taken place. Those two votes then trigger a ballot referendum.
So Virginia Democrats, who narrowly control the state’s House (51–48) and Senate (21–19), announced a special session last week and this week are attempting to pass an amendment that would allow the legislature to draw districts instead of the independent commission. Virginia Democrats then need to keep control of the House, whose 100 seats are up in next week’s elections. Then, early next year, they would hopefully pass the amendment in the legislature again and win the ballot initiative. Whew. Democrats currently hold six of the state’s 11 U.S. House seats but could gain up to 10 with this change.
And here’s the beautiful part, from the Democrats’ perspective: The legislature doesn’t need the approval of the governor to complete this process. Governor Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, of course opposes this Democratic gerrymandering. But Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic candidate who is favored to win next week’s gubernatorial race, is not opposing this. (Youngkin isn’t running for reelection because Virginia governors aren’t allowed to have consecutive terms.)
Her tacit support wasn’t a guarantee. The former congresswoman is fairly centrist, even bashing President Biden in 2021 for pushing too much major legislation. Spanberger’s backing of this hyperpartisan move shows that even moderates in the party realize that Democrats must either use unsavory tools like gerrymandering—or let the Republicans dominate American democracy.
Republicans in Virginia are complaining that the Democrats there are ignoring some legislative precedents to jam through this redistricting. They’re right. This is an ugly process. But it’s the kind of norm-breaking stuff state-level Republicans, Mitch McConnell, Donald Trump, and his aides have been doing for more than a decade. The fact that Virginia Republicans sound like national Democrats, complaining about rules and norms, is a sign that Democrats are finally on the right track, understanding that they are in a civil war that they will lose unless they actually fight hard.
National Democrats are also pushing officials in Illinois and Maryland to further gerrymander, with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries flying to Chicago earlier this week to make that pitch in person. That’s another good sign. The problem is that local officials in those states aren’t fully on board yet. Some Black politicians in Illinois are reportedly frustrated because effective gerrymandering could reduce the number of Black-majority U.S. House districts in the state, even if it increases the number of Democratic seats.
Let me use my position as one of the relatively few Black columnists in the national media to say categorically—THAT IS STUPID. Having Democrats control the House is far, far better for Black Americans than having lots of Black House members in a Republican-controlled House. What are we doing here? Why do I have to make such an obvious point?
Sadly, Democrats may not be able to catch up to Republicans in terms of gerrymandering, even though the party is rightly trying to. Many blue states have redistricting commissions and also courts and legal precedents that discourage drawing maps that strongly favor one party. Those are good policies in a world of normal politics. I supported them when they were adopted. But right now, those of us who encouraged Democrats to adopt more pro-democracy reforms look dumb and naïve. The Republicans have been pursuing one-party domination of America for decades, giving them an advantage over Democrats, who have been trying to foster a true democracy of two or more parties.
How important this gerrymandering will end up being is hard to predict. Trump and congressional Republicans may be so unpopular next year that no amount of rejiggering seats will save them. And while both parties are pretty good at drawing districts in their favor, it’s possible they will draw a few that they still lose. But most voters these days back the same party in every election, so I tend to think these district lines will be super-important. And Democrats winning the House next year is critical, because their odds in the Senate are much longer.
Even if Democrats don’t end up successfully creating many more seats for themselves in Virginia, Maryland, or other states, the boldness we are seeing in Virginia right now still matters. It’s the latest indication, along with the California gerrymandering and the government shutdown, that the Democratic Party leadership finally really appreciates the perilous moment we are in, with a Republican Party trying to lock itself into power forever and turn America into a competitive autocracy.
So many Democratic politicians want to be the next Barack Obama, with beautiful rhetoric that makes people feel good. But right now, the party needs more Mitch McConnells, hyperpartisan warriors scouring election and legislative rulebooks to find any advantage they can. And at least in Virginia, the party’s McConnell-ish spirit has arrived. It might be too late, but better late than never.
The post Yes, Virginia! Democrats Actually Can Be Feisty and Cunning! appeared first on New Republic.
