As Virginia Democrats weigh a push to redraw the state’s congressional map before next year’s congressional midterms, Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger is striking a more cautious tone than party leaders at the Capitol.
Democratic leaders in the legislature seem more emboldened than ever to redraw the lines after the Supreme Court allowed Texas to use newly drawn maps that will likely net Republicans more seats in the United States House of Representatives.
Democrats are pushing a constitutional amendment that would permit a redraw of Virginia’s congressional map next year, but only if another state acts first.
To amend the constitution, the General Assembly must pass the resolution twice, with a House election in between.
Democrats convened a special session in late October and completed the first step by passing the resolution, leaving the option of redistricting open. A House election took place in early November, and now Democrats, who kept the majority in both chambers, can pass the resolution again when they convene in January.
The final step is for voters across Virginia to approve the resolution in a referendum.
Democrats currently represent six congressional districts compared to the Republicans, who represent five. Speaker of the House Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, and Senate Pro Tempore Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, have both implied that they are interested in drawing new maps with only one Republican-held seat.
“Have you been paying attention to the Supreme Court?” Scott responded when asked at a Politico event in Richmond on Tuesday about his stance on redrawing the maps.
“I feel comfortable that we have an opportunity to do a number of maps here in Virginia to allow for us to level the playing field,” he continued.
Spanberger took a softer, longer approach in responding to questions about redistricting at the event.
She first pointed to the fact that she won two Republican districts during last month’s gubernatorial election.
“I won the First District and the Second District in November without any sort of redistricting,” Spanberger said. “I have my eyes on those districts, and I know we can win them this November. So to be very clear, I want to flip seats in the House of Representatives, and I know that we can, because I just won [these districts].”
Spanberger did not give her full support for redrawing the maps, but she also did not speak against it.
“As it relates to what [Speaker Scott] talked about, and what’s happening in Texas and North Carolina, I do think it’s important that Virginia leave open the option and we have a multi-year process, or multi-step process in order to do any type of redistricting,” Spanberger said.
While Democrats in the General Assembly are the vessel through which the proposal reaches Virginians, ultimately, the decision will be up to voters.
“Nothing happens unless the people actually vote for it,” Spanberger said.
That brings up the campaign Democrats will have to run to convince voters to back the proposal.
When asked whether she would campaign in favor of redistricting, Spanberger said she plans to use her time during the legislative session to pass the policies she campaigned on.
“I campaigned on affordability. I campaigned on improving our schools. I campaigned on basic governance. And so that is where I will be spending every minute of my energy into the future,” she said. “If the General Assembly chooses to move forward, as I believe they will, then they’ll move forward with the next vote, and then it will go to the people, and I will spend that time in session focused on getting the bills through that will meaningfully impact people’s lives and be responsive to the legislation and the priorities that I pushed.”
Even though Spanberger is not involved in the amendment process, she will be tasked with signing legislation that creates the new maps.
Spanberger’s team did not respond on Wednesday when asked by Virginia Scope if she would sign legislation to redraw congressional districts next year if it reached her desk.