Democrats in the General Assembly passed a resolution that would leave open the possibility of redrawing Virginia’s congressional districts ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. The House of Delegates passed the resolution on Wednesday, and the state Senate approved it on Friday.
The resolution adds language to the constitution that would allow legislators to redraw congressional boundaries if another state does it first. Current law tasks a bipartisan redistricting commission with creating new legislative district boundaries every ten years.
“This resolution, most importantly, keeps Virginia’s option open,” said Del. Rodney Willett, D-Henrico, the resolution’s sponsor, on Wednesday. “It’s creating an option if it’s approved by us, approved by the voters, an option for the reconsideration of the congressional district lines. This resolution is temporary.”
The resolution includes a sunset clause for 2030, after which Virginia’s Redistricting Commission will be tasked with redrawing legislative boundaries based on new census data.
To amend Virginia’s constitution, the resolution must be approved twice by the General Assembly, with a House of Delegates election in between. Virginia is electing a new House next week, which is why Democrats rushed to pass this resolution now.
Republicans believe that the rush to begin this process is illegal.
“I will say that there are multiple parallel tracks of litigation moving forward, and that we are confident that we have the law on our side, and we’ll let that play out as it may,” said Del. Tom Garrett, R-Buckingham, during a press conference.
House Minority Leader Terry Kilgore, R-Scott, said that Garrett is leading the legal effort.
A lawsuit has already been filed, and more are expected.
Republicans are focused on the constitutional language that states an intervening House election must occur between the two votes by the General Assembly.
Early voting in Virginia began on Sept. 19, and the General Assembly did not vote on the redistricting legislation until this week.
“If it was simply to put this on the ballot and not pull a fast one on the citizens of the commonwealth of Virginia – and evade the purpose of that constitutional provision – we should have been here months ago,” said Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Rockingham, on the floor Friday.
Obenshain continued by pointing out that President Donald Trump called for Republican states to redistrict in July, and that Texas began the process in August.
“If these professions of heartfelt conviction that this is necessary to save the Republic were sincere, we could have been back here in August,” Obenshain said. “Instead, we are here four days before a statewide election after 1 million Virginians have already cast their votes. It is in clear contravention of the purpose of that constitutional provision.”
Sen. Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, said Virginia has a special role as the birthplace of Democracy.
“Some people might call this a power grab,” Surovell said on the floor Friday. “That’s not what it is. This is about whether our democratic system will function as intended, whether our voters will have a meaningful choice, whether Congress can check executive power, whether gerrymandering has rendered that function impossible.”
Democrats have a slim majority in both chambers and passed the legislation on party lines.
The chambers can take up the legislation again during the 2026 legislative session, which begins in January.
If the General Assembly passes the same exact legislation again, they have to wait 90 days before sending it to Virginia voters for a referendum.
“We need to make sure that Virginia is not permanently disadvantaged in the fight for congressional control,” Surovell said Friday. “What do you do when one side chooses to play by the rules? Do you maintain your principles and accept defeat, or do you recognize that preserving democracy sometimes requiring tools you find distasteful to prevent permanent entrenchment of minority rule? We owe it to our constituents to have this conversation.”