Virginia Democrats released a congressional map proposal Thursday evening that could allow the party to win all but one of state's districts in this year's midterm elections.
Under the proposed map, former Vice President Kamala Harris would have carried 10 of Virginia's 11 congressional districts in the 2024 election rather than six. Two of them she would have won only narrowly, but Gov. Abigail Spanberger carried them by slightly greater margins in last November's elections, according to data provided by the Legislature.
Since Democrats control six of Virginia's districts, the redrawn map would give them an opening to pick up as many as four seats as they vie for control of the narrowly divided House.
But Virginia Democrats still face several hurdles in enacting the map for the 2026 elections. A state court blocked the redistricting effort last month, saying lawmakers did not follow the proper steps in passing a constitutional amendment to pave the way for it. The state Supreme Court is now set to hear the appeal.
If the court allows the effort to go through, voters would need to approve the constitutional amendment — which would allow Virginia Democrats to bypass the state's redistricting commission — this spring.
To achieve the intended partisan effect, the Democrats’ proposal would divide the populous area of Arlington — a Washington suburb — among five different districts, some of which stretch deep into the state. The 9th Congressional District, a rural district in the west of the state represented by Republican Morgan Griffith, would absorb more of the rural parts of the state and become the only solidly Republican seat in Virginia.
Democrats, who are in full control of state government, had debated how aggressively to redraw the state's map. Lawmakers had promised to release their proposal last month, but they were unable to reach an agreement and kept working through issues this week, a source familiar with the map-drawing process said, settling on the one they unveiled Thursday within the last 24 hours.
Virginia represents Democrats' chief opportunity to gain seats this year in the ongoing mid-decade redistricting fight around the country. President Donald Trump sparked it last year when he successfully urged Republicans in Texas, Missouri and North Carolina to draw new maps.
Democrats most forcefully responded on California, redrawing their district lines in a way that gives them the opportunity to pick up as many as five seats, which could offset potential GOP gains under Texas' new map. California voters approved the map in November, and the U.S. Supreme Court this week allowed it to go into effect.
The Maryland House passed a new map this week that would eliminate the state's sole Republican-controlled district, but the Democratic leader of the state Senate has opposed the push.
On the GOP side, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called for an April special session to take up redistricting. Republicans hope that a new map there could result in a pick-up of three to five seats.
