Voters will be considering a constitutional amendment this spring to redraw Virginia’s congressional districts, a reaction to several Republican states redrawing their districts at the urging of President Donald Trump.
Senator Chris Head, a Republican from Botetourt County, questioned how Democrats could vote for this even though they supported the creation a bipartisan redistricting commission a few years ago.
“If you voted for it then and you thought that was a good idea because it was your ethics and your beliefs and they were foundational and fundamental but now because you hate the man who’s in the White House, and that’s really the only thing that’s behind this is that you hate the man in the White House and you want to blunt his power, then we’re going to politically gerrymander.”
Democrats who run the House and Senate also passed a series of amendments protecting abortion rights, protecting gay marriage and automatically giving people convicted of felonies the right to vote once they have served their time. Here’s Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell.
“You saw us take Jim Crow out of the Constitution and give ourselves the right to vote in the Constitution because Virginians just don’t have that right until it’s stated in the Constitution. We banned gay hatred from our Constitution and gave everybody an affirmative right to marry and then we codified Roe v Wade.”
While five Republicans voted with Democrats to pass an amendment to remove Virginia’s ban on gay marriage, the other three votes fell along party lines.
Ever since the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, Democrats have been mobilizing to pass an amendment to the state Constitution protecting abortion rights.
Senator Jennifer Boysko is a Democrat from Herndon who introduced the resolution guaranteeing reproductive rights.
"I want to acknowledge the many people who have stood with women to reach this day today," Boysko said, fighting back tears. "Doctors who have cared for patients, the women and the men who've marched and mobilized and supported their daughters and their sisters and their friends."
Head and several other Republicans spoke against the proposal.
"I do need to put you all on notice who will vote for this, the decisions that we make as individuals have eternal consequences. Be careful how you vote because there will be consequences," Head advised.
The redistricting amendment will go to voters in a special statewide referendum in April. The other three amendments will be considered by voters in November.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
