Local Republican delegates hosted a joint town hall on Monday to raise concerns about the upcoming special election over redistricting. WMRA’s Omega Ilijevich reports.
On April 21, Virginia voters will decide whether the Democrat-led General Assembly should temporarily redraw congressional voting maps. The proposed constitutional amendment is designed to boost the national party’s chances in November midterm elections and oppose right-wing redistricting efforts in Texas, Ohio, and other states.
In a virtual town hall on Monday, Delegates Tony Wilt, Chris Runion, and Justin Pence urged constituents to vote “no” on the change. The three Shenandoah Valley Republicans argued the referendum was rushed to the ballot box, breaking state procedural rules along the way. Delegate Pence cited recent legal challenges to the proposal, although a Cardinal News analysis found that the ongoing cases won’t prevent the special election from happening in most of the commonwealth’s localities.
JUSTIN PENCE: It seems like, when you have to change so many laws to be allowed to do something, maybe it’s a good sign you shouldn’t be doing it.
Delegate Runion also argued that the amendment could quiet the political voices of rural Virginians.
CHRIS RUNION: What we're being asked to do by this small group of liberal Northern Virginia Democrats is to abandon one of our most sacred and democratic principles, that voters get to choose their politicians and that elections mean something.
However, Democrats claim the proposed amendment is not a long-term redistricting solution for Virginia, but a short-term response to President Trump’s national push for Republican gerrymandering. The language on the ballot says the Commonwealth would revert to “standard redistricting process” following the 2030 Census. When asked to address this timeline, delegate Wilt responded with suspicion.
TONY WILT: Technically that's the way it is written, but forgive me if I’m doubtful that that’s the way it would end up. If it were to succeed, what prevents it from happening again?
Early voting for the amendment begins Friday.
