Virginia’s top court on Friday cleared the way for a statewide referendum that could allow Democrats to redraw the state’s congressional map before the fall midterm elections and pick up more House seats.
The decision from the Virginia Supreme Court left unsettled the legality of a bid by the state’s Democratic-led legislature to overhaul the House map. But it allowed an April 21 vote by Virginians on a constitutional amendment that is necessary for lawmakers to carry out the redistricting plan.
Democrats, who are locked in a tit-for-tat gerrymandering battle with Republicans that has played out in courtrooms and state houses across the country, greeted the decision as a victory.
“This has always been a procedural challenge aimed at stopping voters from even having a say,” Dan Gottlieb, a spokesman for Virginians for Fair Elections, a group supporting the redistricting effort, said in a statement. “The referendum proceeds, and the people of Virginia remain in charge of their own elections.”
Virginia Democrats are aiming to draw eight safely Democratic congressional districts and two Democratic-leaning ones in the state, where the House delegation currently comprises six Democrats and five Republicans. The new map would leave Republicans with just one safe seat.
The Virginia redistricting effort hit a roadblock two weeks ago, when a lower court judge, Jack S. Hurley Jr. of Tazewell County Circuit Court in conservative-leaning southwest Virginia, ruled that the planned referendum could not go forward. Judge Hurley sided with Republicans who had sued over the redistricting plan, arguing that the April 21 vote had been set improperly and scheduled too close to upcoming elections.
In a four-page ruling on Friday, the Virginia Supreme Court took a different view, offering scant reasoning. The court, made up of seven justices appointed by the General Assembly, also set a schedule to consider the broader legality of the Democrats’ redistricting plan.
Virginians for Fair Elections, the pro-redistricting group, this week began airing television ads asking Virginians to vote yes on the referendum. Early voting begins on March 6 for the April 21 election. An organization affiliated with the House Democrats’ super PAC donated $5 million to Virginians for Fair Elections last week, according to Virginia campaign finance records.
Terry G. Kilgore, the Republican minority leader in Virginia’s House of Delegates, told reporters on Friday that the decision showed that his party had “a lot of work to do” in the two months leading up to the referendum.
But he said Republicans were confident.
“We believe we can win both: Win the case and win the referendum,” he said. “We’re ready to roll.”
Campbell Robertson and Reid J. Epstein contributed reporting.
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