The New York Times published a story on Sunday morning indicating that Democrats might be trying to take extreme measures to still implement new maps ahead of this year’s midterm elections. That will not be happening, however, for multiple reasons, according to Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax.
How it went down
The NYT published a story about a discussion among national Democrats to urge state legislators to take drastic measures to reinstate gerrymandered maps that were struck down by the commonwealth’s highest court.
From the story: “During a private discussion on Saturday that included Democratic House members from Virginia and Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the minority leader, the lawmakers vented anger at their defeat at the Virginia Supreme Court, spoke about a collective determination to flip two or three Republican-held seats under the existing map and discussed a bank-shot proposal to redraw the congressional lines anyway, according to three people who participated in the call and two others who were briefed on it.
“They did not land on a specific course forward, and Mr. Jeffries and the other members of Congress agreed to consult with their lawyers about the most prudent way to proceed, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a private talk.”
The discussions included replacing the entire Virginia Supreme Court by lowering the retirement age requirement.
The steps that would follow include meeting for a special session, setting the parameters of the special session, lowering the retirement age of the justices, interviewing and appointing seven new justices, appealing the recent ruling to the new court, and having the court deliberate and approve the new maps.
Then, the Department of Elections would have to begin the process of changing the system and moving the voters to the new districts, which sources have told Virginia Scope would take roughly 35 days.
In a recent court filing from the commissioner of elections, Steven Koski, he stated that the department would need to begin making changes by May 12 to be ready in time for the August primary elections.
The internet exploded after the NYT published the story, as state legislators did not provide any comment. Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, D-VA10, signaled his support for taking the action.
Subramanyam voted for the bipartisan redistricting commission while he was a state legislator, but told the NYT he supports doing whatever needs to be done to push back against Republicans’ gerrymandering in other states.
“Everyone has got to have a strong stomach right now; this is a complete disaster waiting to happen if people are timid,” Subramanyam told the NYT. “We have Republican states ignoring their constitutions and interrupting early voting and ignoring their Supreme Courts all together. We know based on that, Republicans would explore every single option possible to move this forward.”
Several Virginia Democratic operatives immediately pushed back against the idea of drastically changing how the commonwealth operates.
“This is schizo hopium,” one operative told Virginia Scope.
Another operative pointed out that removing all seven justices would mean they are firing the first female Black chief justice.
And another said that Democrats appear to be making their best effort to make sure that Elaine Luria, a former congresswoman in VA-02 who is seeking to unseat Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-VA02, loses. Luria is favored to win back her old seat from Kiggans, who narrowly defeated her in 2022.
It is not happening
Surovell, the top Democrat in the state Senate, told Virginia Scope Monday morning that these drastic measures will not be taken.
Surovell said that the time restrictions at the Department of Elections make the notion impractical.
He also said forcing the retirement of Supreme Court justices would be extreme, and he wants to work within the existing legal system when fighting against Republicans.
Gov. Abigail Spanberger also told reporters at an event Monday afternoon that she does not support removing the court’s current justices.
Speaker of the House Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, has not responded to a request for comment.