As the congressional midterm elections approach this year, it has become apparent that just who will have the advantage in redistricting battles on the state level may very well be in the hands of the men and women in black robes.
In a crucial decision on Friday, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled that a referendum scheduled in April on congressional redistricting can go forward, reportedly seen as a big win for commonwealth Democrats.
Democrats are fast-tracking a proposed new district map that would give the commonwealth as many as four more left-leaning U.S. House districts in time for this year’s midterms.
As Fox Digital reported:
Virginia is the latest battleground, with Florida on deck, in the ongoing crucial battle between President Donald Trump and Republicans versus Democrats to alter congressional maps ahead of November’s elections.
Republicans are defending their razor-thin House majority in the midterms, and Democrats need a net gain of just three seats to win back control of the chamber. That means the redistricting efforts in Virginia and other states may very well decide which party controls the House next year.
While the proposed map in Virginia is expected to be approved by the legislature and signed by Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D), it still needs the approval of voters.
Republicans previously challenged the validity of the referendum, with a lower court ruling in their favor. The state Supreme Court disagreed, approving the ballot proposal that would give the legislature redistricting power rather than its current non-partisan commission.
The referendum is similar to one voters easily passed in California last year, with Gov. Gavin Newsom pushing the measure in response to Texas Republicans plans to redraw that state’s map.
“Today’s order is a huge win for Virginia voters,” Dan Gottlieb, spokesperson for Democrat-aligned Virginians for Fair Elections, said in a statement. “The Court made it clear that nothing in this case stops the April 21 referendum from moving forward and that Virginians will have the final say.”
However, more legal challenges to the referendum are expected.
According to Fox Digital, longtime Republican state lawmaker Terry Kilgore told reporters, “We’re going to make our case to Virginians that this is unfair. This is unprecedented. And quite frankly it’s against the law, we believe.”
Last year, President Trump urged Republican-held states to redraw their district maps, which could gain an advantage for the GOP in the midterm elections.
As a result, as the Associated Press reported, this ended up triggering “an unusual outbreak of mid-decade gerrymandering among both Republican- and Democratic-led states.”
California’s new map, for example, is expected to result in five more Democratic-leaning congressional districts, a counter move to Texas’s redistricting, which is expected to create Republican seats.
Missouri, Ohio, and North Carolina, states controlled by GOP lawmakers, have also drawn new maps as part of the president’s push.
But in a setback to Republicans, a Utah district judge rejected a GOP drawn congressional district map and instead approved an alternate that will create a Democratic-leaning district ahead of the midterms, according to Fox Digital.
As a result, Republicans have appealed to the state Supreme Court to block a new court-ordered map for this year’s elections.
In December, Indiana failed to implement the Trump strategy, with Republicans in the state senate defeating a redistricting bill that had passed the state house.
Florida will join the redistricting flap next.
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis (FL) and GOP state lawmakers are hoping to pick up an additional three to five seats with a new district map to be drawn during a special legislative session in April, according to Fox Digital.
This has also resulted in a lawsuit filed by a group aligned with Florida Democrats.
Other states are reportedly looking at redistricting by both Republicans and Democrats, with gerrymandering advantages based on who controls their legislatures. Those states reportedly include Maryland, South Carolina, Nebraska, Kansas, New Hampshire, Illinois and Washington.
Add to the mix, a ruling pending by the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to address a crucial Louisiana case that may lead to ending a provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
The case presents a constitutional challenge to a congressional district that was drawn to comply with the law’s requirement that election maps give minority communities an equal opportunity to elect representatives of their choice.
If the challenge is affirmed, it could lead to the redrawing of a slew of majority-minority districts across the county, which would greatly favor Republicans.
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the author of the New York Times true crime best seller House of Secrets and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more
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