BREAKING: Virginia Supreme Court strikes down Spanberger's new congressional map

The Virginia Supreme Court has struck down the redistricting referendum that was approved in Virginia, which would have made the state go from a 6 Democrat, 5 GOP seat state to a 10 Democrat, 1 GOP seat state with regard to the US House of Representatives. The map redraw was pushed by Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger and Democratic state lawmakers.  

The court struck down the referendum on Friday, ruling that Democratic lawmakers violated procedural rules when they got the constitutional amendment on the ballot to create the new 10-1 congressional map.

"We hold that the legislative process employed to advance this proposal violated Article XII, Section 1 of the Constitution of Virginia. This constitutional violation incurably taints the resulting referendum vote and nullifies its legal efficacy," the court ruled.

The decision blocks the Democrats in the state from redrawing the congressional map and the district boundaries will remain unchanged. The decision comes as Republicans and Democrats have been vying for more House seats ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. 

The effort from the state Democrats and Spanberger were put into motion despite the governor telling voters on the campaign trail that she did not have any plans to change the congressional boundaries of the state. The referendum passed 2 percent margin in April. 

The text of the ballot measure that was distributed asked voters to answer "yes" or "no" to the following: "Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended to allow the General Assembly to temporarily adopt new congressional districts to restore fairness in the upcoming elections, while ensuring Virginia's standard redistricting process resumes for all future redistricting after the 2030 census?"

Even though the ballot said that the measure would "restore fairness" in elections, the state's map with 6 Democrats and 5 Republicans represented match up very well with the democraphic breakdown of Virginia. 

After the decision came down, President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social, "Huge win for the Republican Party, and America, in Virginia. The Virginia Supreme Court has just struck down the Democrats’ horrible gerrymander. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"

VA Supreme Court Ruling