In a story published by WTOP Thursday morning, Gov. Abigail Spanberger threw cold water on the Democratic argument to the U.S. Supreme Court that a stay is needed so Virginia can try to implement new maps ahead of the November election.
Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, Speaker of the House Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, and Attorney General Jay Jones asked SCOTUS earlier this week to place a stay on the Virginia Supreme Court’s ruling that said the old maps must be used because Democrats did not correctly follow procedure for amending the constitution.
The filing seeks a stay so the Department of Elections can begin the lengthy process of moving voters to their new districts in the system in time for early voting to start next month for the August primaries.
In the meantime, Democrats would file their motion to appeal the Virginia Supreme Court ruling.
This is a last-ditch effort by Democrats to save the maps that they spent nearly $70 million on to convince Virginia voters to approve in a referendum last month.
The new maps would create a congressional map favorable to Democrats in 10 of Virginia’s 11 districts.
Spanberger, however, stated on Wednesday that the November elections will take place under the old maps that were created in 2021.
The governor said the SCOTUS efforts are “important, but when it comes to the execution of elections, no matter the outcome in that case, we will be running our elections beginning next month with early voting on the current maps that we have.”
Spanberger’s comment lines up with what Virginia’s Department of Elections Commissioner Steven Koski stated in a legal filing last month that the department would need to begin making changes by May 12 to be ready in time for the August primary elections.
Spanberger also touched on one aspect of this legal battle that is often overlooked: Democrats, in this political environment, already have a chance to pick up two of the four seats they are trying to gain under the old map.
Democrats won VA-01 and VA-02, both currently represented by Republicans, last November during statewide elections.
“I believe, somewhat doggedly, that we will win two to four seats in the House of Representatives. … That is my goal. That is what I know is possible,” Spanberger told WTOP.
Spanberger also referenced this during a Politico event in December.
“I won the First District and the Second District in November without any sort of redistricting,” she 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].”
Republicans are required to submit their response to the Democratic motion for a stay to SCOTUS by 5 p.m. today.
Jones, Surovell and Scott did not respond to a request for comment in this story.
Stay tuned for updates.