The Senate of Virginia Friday approved an amendment that would allow a mid-decade redistricting of the state's Congressional districts. The 21 to 16 vote fell along party lines and followed some three hours of debate. The House passed the measure earlier in the week.
After the Senate approved the measure, the chamber’s Republicans pushed a message for Virginia voters: you can stop redistricting by voting next week.
“This whole boondoggle ends and it ends immediately, and that’s all people have to do: Go vote and vote for Republicans,” said Lynchburg Senator and Virginia Republican Party leader Mark Peake following a party-line vote to approve a constitutional amendment that could allow Democrats to redraw congressional lines to favor their party.
The amendment push comes after President Donald Trump asked Republican-controlled states to “find more seats” ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
Senate Democrats offered their own gubernatorial vote advice: they’ll need Democrat Abigail Spanberger in office to approve funding for any referendum and also to call a special session for a potential redraw.
But Hampton Democratic Senator Mamie Locke also pumped the brakes on any redraw guarantees.
“This is a tool for us, the other states are in litigation over what they’ve done," Locke told reporters following the vote. "It might very well be what they’ve done is unconstitutional and illegal so we may not even have to do this at all.”
Senate President Louise Lucas, an online firebrand who joked on social media about a redraw that could reduce Virginia’s Republican delegation in Washington from five to one, laughed when asked if her meme would manifest if the vote went their way: “That’s going to be up to the caucus,” she said.
The senators added there’s been no map discussion yet. The amendment still needs to be approved a second time in the January 2026 session. If it is, it could be before voters as early as April.
Friday’s approval in the Senate comes as a poll shows a one-point lead in favor of the effort, and only hours after Ohio agreed to a redraw of their maps. In the Buckeye state deal, Democrats compromised with Republicans, keeping three possible seats while losing two.
Before the vote in Richmond, Senators dueled over the legality of the effort, often citing decades-old sections of state code and previous constitutions.
"Texas embarking on a mid-decade redistricting was probably not a good idea, but because they have embarked on that endeavor does not mean that we have to engage in that endeavor," Peake argued from the chamber floor.
Republican Senator Timmy French, who said he wished he was back on his farm in Woodstock rather than stuck in Richmond, echoed Peake’s concerns: “Let the people of Virginia, not the interests of Washington, guide us,” he said.
Senator Chris Head, a Roanoke-area Republican, offered an amendment that would give redrawing authority to the state’s voter-approved bipartisan redistricting commission.
“We have a perfectly good system in place as is,” he said before the amendment died along party lines.
But Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell pointed to GOP-led states like Texas, Missouri and North Carolina before repeating comments from House Speaker Don Scott after that chamber’s vote Wednesday.
“We’ll have to see where things stand in three months,” he said, explaining the urgency required for the effort. “We had to start this process today or else we wouldn’t have the option in January.”
Amendments to Virginia’s constitution require passage by the state’s legislature twice, divided by an intervening election.
Republicans have argued the near-election day vote violates state law and leaves voters uninformed, but Democrats argue the law they’re citing is out of date and it wouldn't be the first time voters learned something after they voted early.
"Those who voted in September didn't know their healthcare costs were about to increase or that SNAP benefits were going to be stopped," Surovell said.
The Supreme Court of Virginia will likely decide legal questions both already raised and those raised by opponents of the effort in the near future. One effort by GOP members of the bipartisan redistricting commission had their effort slowed earlier this week.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
