Virginia Democrats unveiled a new congressional map Thursday that could give the party four additional seats in Congress.
"Donald Trump knows he's going to lose the midterms. He knows it. That's why he's started this mess in the first place," L. Louise Lucas, a top Democrat in the Virginia Senate, said Thursday morning.
"We said 10-1, and we meant it," Lucas added.
Virginia's congressional delegation is currently split with six Democrats and five Republicans.
Democrats recently suffered a setback in their attempts to install new maps after a Virginia judge ruled that the proposed constitutional amendment letting Democrats redraw the state's congressional maps was illegal.
Tazewell Circuit Court Judge Jack Hurley Jr. struck down the Virginia Legislature's actions on three grounds, including finding that lawmakers failed to follow their own rules for adding the redistricting amendment to a special session.
His order also said Democrats failed to approve the amendment before the public began voting in last year's general election and failed to publish the amendment three months before the election, as required by law.
As a result, he said, the amendment was invalid and void.
Virginia Democrats have said they plan to appeal, setting up a showdown in the state Supreme Court.
"Virginia to the rescue," Virginia House Speaker Don Scott said, charging Republicans were trying to rig the midterms by redrawing their maps in states like Texas.
"They know they can't win on their agenda in 2026 so instead of changing their ideas, they're trying to break the system," Scott added. "A 10-1 map levels the playing field and we're ready to move forward."
Republicans in the state have blasted Democrats' attempts at redistricting.
"What they really mean is 'We are proud to deliver an illegal map that the court told us we can't draw, that delivers for Democrats, not Virginians,'" Virginia's former GOP Attorney General Jason Miyares posted on X.
Voters must approve a constitutional amendment that would allow the General Assembly to redraw the state's maps.
Democrats are hoping to put the measure on the ballot in April.
Sam Barron ✉
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